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BULLETIN  NO.  21 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 


A  SURVEY   OF   THE 

CITY  SCHOOLS   OF   MARION, 

ILLINOIS 

By 

Walter  S.  Monroe,  Director 

Director,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 


PRICE  50  CENTS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA 

1924 


37C 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 5 

Chapter  I.    Introduction 7 

Chapter  II.   Marion's  Investment  for  Elementary  Schools  10 

Chapter  III.   Buildings  and  Equipment 23 

Chapter  IV.  Teaching  Staff  and  Quality  of  Instruction.  .  .  34 

Chapter  V.   Course  of  Study 39 

Chapter  VI,  Achievements  of  School  Children 43 

Chapter  VII.   Recommendations 53 


LIST  OF  TABLES 

PAGE 

Table  I.    Ratio  of  assessed  valuation  to  true  valuation 13 

Table  II.   Number  of  pupils  enrolled  per  1000  population 14 

Table   III.    Current   expenditures  for   elementary  schools  for   items   per   pupil 

in   a.d.a 15 

Table  IV.    Estimated  value  of  elementary  school  property 16 

Table  V.    Indebtedness  for  elementary  schools 18 

Table  VI.    Marion's  wealth 19 

Table  VII.   Tax  rates  for  elementary  schools  per  $100  on  basis  of  assessed  value  20 

Table  VIII.   Total  tax  rates  for  elementary  schools  on  basis  of  assessed  value. .  21 

Table  IX.    Scores  of  Marion  school  buildings 26 

Table  X.    Summary  of  scores  for  elementary  school  buildings 27 

Table  XI.    Salaries  of  teachers  and  principals 35 

Table  XII.    Distribution  of  salaries  of  elementary  school  teachers  In  260  cities 

having  a  population  between  5000  and  10,000,  1922-1923 36 

Table  XIII.   Time  allotments  for  Marion  and  Holmes'  standards 40 

Table  XIV.   Median  mental  ages,  Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale 44 

Table  XV.    Median  scores  for  the  Pressey  Classification  Tests 45 

Table  XVI.   Distribution  of  scores  for  Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale 46 

Table  XVII.    Summary  of  median  scores  for  silent  reading 47 

Table  XVIII.    Summary  of  median  scores  for  arithmetic 49 

Table  XIX.    Median  scores  on  the  Stanford  Achievement  Tests 50 

Table  XX.    Distribution  of  the  composite  scores  on  the  Stanford  Achievement 

Test 51 


PREFACE 

The  Survey  of  the  Marion  Public  Schools  was  undertaken  in 
response  to  an  invitation  from  Superintendent  J.  W.  Asbury  and  the 
Board  of  Education.  The  fact  that  this  invitation  was  extended  by 
the  school  authorities  is  in  itself  significant.  So  far  as  the  writer  has 
been  able  to  learn,  at  the  time  the  survey  was  inaugurated,  there  had 
been  only  one  formal  survey  of  a  school  system,  that  of  Alton,  in  the 
state  since  the  Springfield  Survey  of  1914.  This  being  the  case  the 
Superintendent  and  the  Board  of  Education  at  Marion  are  to  be 
congratulated  on  their  initiative  in  securing  a  systematic  evaluation 
of  their  school  system  by  an  outside  agency. 

The  Survey  has  been  conducted  as  a  project  of  the  Bureau  of 
Educational  Research.  With  the  exception  of  the  assistance  rendered 
by  Charles  E,  Chadsey,  Dean  of  the  College  of  Education,  all  of  the 
work  has  been  done  by  members  of  the  Bureau  Staff.  Charles  W. 
Odell  and  George  W.  Reagan  made  the  survey  of  the  buildings  and 
equipment.  Ruth  Streitz  supervised  the  administration  of  the  educa- 
tional tests.  George  W.  Reagan  also  made  a  study  of  the  expendi- 
tures, indebtedness  and  tax  rates.  Charles  E.  Chadsey  contributed 
the  recommendations  which  appear  in  Chapter  VII.  The  report, 
except  for  the  final  chapter,  was  written  by  Walter  S.  Monroe, 
Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research,  who  also  directed 
the  Survey.  Credit  for  editing  the  manuscript  and  for  supervising  its 
publication  should  be  given  to  Mrs.  Charles  Hughes  Johnston. 

The  Survey  renders  a  very  definite  service  to  Marion  by  describ- 
ing the  present  status  of  the  elementary  school  system  and  by  making 
specific  recommendations  for  the  future.  It  is  hoped  that  the  pub- 
lished report  may  be  helpful  also  to  other  communities  by  illustrating 
the  procedure  for  making  a  simple  yet  effective  survey  in  cities  of  the 
size  of  Marion.  A  superintendent  who  understands  how  to  use 
standardized  tests  and  who  is  familiar  with  some  of  the  more  ele- 
mentary statistical  procedures  should  be  able  to  duplicate  this  survey 
in  his  school  system.  Such  an  undertaking,  of  course,  would  require 
considerable  time  and  the  superintendent  would  find  it  necessary  to 
arrange  his  program  so  that  he  would  have  adequate  time  for  the 
work. 

The  plan  of  the  Survey  is  simple.  It  is  limited  to  those  divisions 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Survey  Staff,  are  considered  essential. 


The  elaboration  of  topics  has  been  intentionally  avoided.  Except  in 
the  evaluation  of  the  buildings  and  equipment,  the  survey  deals  only 
with  data  for  the  system  as  a  whole.  Analysis  of  the  measures  of 
achievement,  including  comparisons  between  buildings  and  even  be- 
tween teachers,  doubtless  would  be  of  assistance  in  the  administra- 
tion and  supervision  of  the  school,  but  this  work  should  be  done  by 
the  superintendent  and  principals  rather  than  by  an  outside  agency. 

Walter  S.  Monroe,  Director, 

Bureau  of  Educational  Research. 
October  6,  1924 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE  CITY  SCHOOLS  OF 
MARION,  ILLINOIS 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

Survey  made  in  response  to  invitation  from  superintendent  and 
board  of  education.  After  some  preliminary  correspondence  with 
Superintendent  J.  W.  Asbury,  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tional Research  was  invited  to  meet  with  the  superintendent  and  the 
board  of  education  on  October  4,  1923.  At  this  conference  the  general 
plan  of  the  proposed  survey  and  an  estimate  of  the  expense  involved 
were  presented.  The  board  of  education  approved  the  plans  and 
guaranteed  expenses  up  to  $500. 

Cooperation  of  teachers.  The  plans  for  the  survey  involved  the 
cooperation  of  the  teachers  in  the  administration  of  the  standardized 
tests,  which  were  used  for  measuring  general  intelligence  and  school 
achievement.  They  were  asked  also  to  score  most  of  the  test  papers.^ 
This  cooperation  was  requested  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place 
their  participation  would  aid  them  in  understanding  what  was  being 
done  and  would  prove  especially  helpful  if  remedial  work  based  on 
the  results  of  the  survey  were  attempted.  The  second  reason  was  the 
reduction  of  expenses.  If  it  had  been  necessary  to  bring  to  Marion 
trained  examiners  and  to  employ  clerical  help  for  the  scoring  of  all 
papers  the  cost  of  the  survey  would  have  been  materially  increased. 
No  reluctance  on  the  part  of  teachers  to  give  this  cooperation  was 
noted  and  the  Survey  Staff  found  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  results 
of  the  testing  program  were  less  valid  than  they  would  have  been 
had  this  work  been  done  by  trained  examiners. 

Date  of  survey.  The  standardized  educational  tests  were  admin- 
istered under  the  direction  of  Ruth  Streitz  during  the  week  beginning 
October  22,  1923.  At  the  same  time  Charles  VV.  Odell  and  George 
W.  Reagan  scored  the  buildings  and  equipment  by  the  Strayer- 
Engelhardt  Score  Card,  and  collected  also  much  of  the  additional 
data  required  in  the  survey.  Charles  E.  Chadsey,  Dean  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Education,  and  Walter  S.  Monroe,  Director  of  the  Survey, 
spent  November  8  in  Marion,  the  former  for  the  purpose  of  becom- 


'For  details  of  the  testing  program  see  page  43. 

[7] 


ing  acquainted  with  the  general  organization  of  the  school  system, 
and  the  latter  in  order  to  observe  classroom  instruction. 

Geographical  location  and  population  of  Marion.  Marion,  the 
county  seat  of  Williamson  county,  is  slightly  more  than  one  hundred 
miles  southeast  of  St.  Louis,  near  the  southern  end  of  the  state  of 
Illinois.  It  is  located  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  coal  mining  region, 
although  there  are  no  mines  within  the  boundaries  of  the  school 
district.  Neither  are  there  any  significant  industries  in  the  city.  It 
is  primarily  a  residential  community.  The  Federal  Census  for  1920 
gives  its  population  as  9582.  Since  that  date  there  has  been  a  rather 
steady  growth  and  the  population  is  probably  now  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  14,000.  The  number  of  residences  noted  in  the  process  of 
construction  indicates  that  the  city  is  still  growing,  although  answers 
to  inquiries  show  that  no  material  increases  in  population  are  antici- 
pated. 

General  plan  of  the  school  system.  Marion  has  what  is  known 
as  the  dual  school  system,  that  is,  the  elementary  schools  and  the 
high  school  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  separate  boards  of  educa- 
tion. This  survey  relates  only  to  the  elementary  schools  of  the  city, 
no  information  having  been  gathered  with  reference  to  the  township 
high  school.  The  eight  grades  of  the  elementary  school  system  are 
housed  in  six  buildings:  Lincoln,  Washington,  Logan,  Jefferson,  Mc- 
Kinley,  and  Douglas,  the  last  building  being  used  exclusively  for 
colored  children.  The  children  in  the  first  five  grades  go  to  the  build- 
ing in  the  vicinity  of  their  homes.  For  their  sixth-grade  work  all 
children  go  to  the  Logan  building,  and  for  their  seventh  and  eighth- 
grade  work  to  the  Washington  building,  both  of  which  are  located 
near  the  center  of  the  city.  The  departmental  organization  is  used 
in  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades,  and  in  one  building,  the 
McKinley,  a  partial  departmental  organization  is  being  tried  in  the 
fifth  grade.  All  colored  children  are  segregated  for  all  eight  grades 
in  the  Douglas  building. 

The  supervisory  and  teaching  stafT  consists  of  fifty-five  teachers, 
six  principals,  a  supervisor  of  music,  and  a  superintendent  of  schools. 
The  principals  are  all  men  and,  with  the  exception  of  those  at  the 
Washington  and  Logan  buildings,  teach  full  time.  The  teachers  are 
distributed  as  follows:  Grade  I,  9;  Grade  II,  8;  Grade  III,  8;  Grade 
IV,  7;  Grade  V,  7;  Grade  VI,  7;  Grade  VII,  10;  Grade  VIII,  5.^  The 


*This  distribution  includes  the  six  principals.    Some  of  the  teachers  listed  for 
the  seventh  grade  instruct  some  eighth-grade  classes. 

[8] 


enrollment  on  October  1,  1923,  the  end  of  the  first  month  of  school, 
is  given  below: 

Grade I         II       III        IV        V        VI       VII     VIII    Total 

Enrollment 374      324      386      352      353      316      258      217     2580 

Attitude  of  the  community  toward  public  schools.  No  sys- 
tematic attempt  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  Survey  Staff  to  collect 
information  with  reference  to  the  attitude  of  the  community  toward 
the  elementary  schools.  However,  the  general  impression  was  gained 
by  all  on  the  Staff  that  the  citizens  of  Marion  were  only  moderately 
interested  in  their  schools.  In  fact,  there  was  some  evidence  of  a 
distinct  lack  of  pride  with  reference  to  buildings  and  grounds.  At 
one  building  where  there  were  a  large  number  of  broken  windows, 
the  comment  was  made  that  it  did  little  good  to  repair  windows 
because  the  public  sentiment  in  that  section  of  the  city  was  such  as 
not  to  deter  children  and  even  adults  from  damaging  school  property. 
A  lack  of  ornamentation  and  neatness  with  respect  to  both  buildings 
and  grounds  was  also  noted.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  reported  that 
the  patrons  of  the  school  were  greatly  Interested  in  public  exercises 
by  their  children,  and  some  parents  were  observed  visiting  the 
schools  on  the  days  during  which  the  survey  was  being  made.  Con- 
versation with  a  number  of  residents  indicated  that  the  attitude  of 
the  community  toward  the  schools  should  not  be  characterized  as 
one  of  gross  indifference.  The  fact  that  the  board  of  education  is 
made  up  of  successful  business  men  shows  that  prominent  citizens 
have  enough  interest  to  give  a  part  of  their  time  to  directing  the 
activities  of  the  schools. 


[9] 


CHAPTER  II 
MARION'S  INVESTMENT  FOR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 

Plan  of  studying  Marion's  investment  for  elementary  schools. 

The  educational  investment  which  a  given  community  is  making 
should  be  judged  by  comparison  (1)  with  its  educational  needs  and 
(2)  with  the  investment  being  made  by  other  communities.  The 
significance  of  the  comparison  with  other  communities  will  depend 
upon  the  degree  of  similarity  with  respect  to  population,  type  of 
school  organization  and  general  status  of  the  community.  The  nine- 
teen cities  chosen  for  comparison  with  Marion  are  located  in  Illinois 
and  have  dual  school  systems.  With  two  exceptions,  Chicago  Heights 
and  Waukegan,  the  population  of  these  cities  as  given  by  the  Federal 
Census  for  1920  is  between  5000  and  15,000.  The  list  includes  ap- 
proximately two-thirds  of  the  cities  in  Illinois  within  these  population 
limits  which  have  dual  school  systems.  Most  of  the  cities  are  very 
similar  to  Marion  with  respect  to  general  status;  the  most  marked 
differences  being  in  the  industrial  interests  which  are  very  conspicu- 
ous in  certain  cases.  Data  were  gathered  for  Wilmette  and  Winnetka 
but  they  were  excluded  from  the  list  because  the  general  status  of 
these  communities  is  exceptional. 

The  cities  chosen  for  comparison  together  with  their  population 
as  given  by  the  Federal  Census  for  1920  are  as  follows: 

Federal  Federal 

Name  of  City  Census  Name  of  City  Census 

1920  1920 

Centralia 12,491  Johnston  City 7, 137 

Chicago  Heights 19,653  LaSalle 13,050 

Clinton 5,898  Lawrenceville 5,080 

DuQuoin 7,285  Litchfield 6,215 

East  Moline 8,675  Marion 9,582 

Eldorado 5,004  Murphysboro 10,703 

Granite  City 14,757  Ottawa 10,816 

Harvey 9,216  Spring  Valley 6,493 

Herrin 10,986  Streator 14,779 

HiUsboro 5,074  Waukegan 19,226 

Sources  of  data.  The  report  of  the  Fourteenth  Census  of  the 
United  States  for  1920  was  used  as  the  source  for  the  population  of 
the  several  communities.  The  figures  for  enrollment  were  taken  from 
the  Illinois  School  Directory  for  1923-24.   The  additional  data  were 

[10] 


secured  by  means  of  a  questionnaire,  a  copy  of  which  is  reproduced 
below,  addressed  to  the  superintendent  of  elementary  schools  in  the 
respective  cities.  Some  of  the  entries  in  the  questionnaires  which 
were  returned  were  obviously  inaccurate.  In  such  cases  a  letter  was 
addressed  to  the  superintendent  and  the  correction  secured.  For 
several  of  the  cities  certain  items  of  information  were  not  reported. 
Hence  in  the  following  tables  comparison  is  not  made  always  with 
the  same  number  of  cities,  a  blank  indicating  that  the  necessary 
information  had  not  been  received. 


Financial  Statistics  for  the  School  Year  of  1922-23 

Name Official  position 

City Unit  or  dual  system 

1.  School  census  (ages  6-21)  of  district (See  Instruction  1) 

2.  Total  enrollment  for  1922-23: 


(a) 
Elementary 

(b) 
High  School 

Resident 

Non-Resident 

Total 

3.  Average  daily  attendance  for  year: 

(a)    elementary   schools (b)    high   school 

4.  District  boundaries: 

(a)  Are  the  city  limits  the  same  as  the  boundaries  of  the  elementary  school 
district.' If  not,  approximately  what  percent  of  non-tuition  elementary- 
school   pupils   come   from   without   the   city   limits? (b)    Are   the   city 

limits  the  same  as  the  boundaries  of  the   high-school  district.^ If  not, 

approximately  what  percent  of  non-tuition   high-school   pupils  come   from  without 
the  city  limits.^ 

5.  Total  assessed  valuation  of  district 

6.  What  percent  of  the  true  value  was  the  assessed  value?    (See  Instruction  6) 

7.  Total  value  of  school  property  (including  equipment)  at  end  of  school  year: 
(a)    elementary  schools (b)    high   school , 

8.  Total  bonded  indebtedness   at  end  of  school  year 

Total  of  other  indebtedness „ 

9.  Tax    rate    for    educational    purposes buildings 

total 

10.  Tax  rate  (in  city)  for  all  municipal  purposes  including  schools 

11.  Total  tax  rate  in  city ,.... 

12.  Expenditures.    (See  Instruction  12.) 

[11] 


Items 

(a) 
Elementary 

(b) 
High  School 

1.  General  control 

2.  Instruction 

3.  Operation 

4.  Maintenance 

5.  Auxiliary 

6.  Total  current  expenses 

7.  New  buildings  and  grounds 

8.  New  equipment  (not  replacement) 

9.  Principal  and  interest  on  bonds 

10.  Total  net  expenditures 

Instructions  for  Filling  Blanks 

1.  The  census  of  1922  is  referred  to.  High-school  principals  in  dual  systems 
may  be  unable  to  give  this  information. 

2.  In  unit  systems  the  superintendent  will  fill  both  (a)  and  (b).  In  dual 
systems  the  superintendent  will  fill  (a)  and  the  principal   (b). 

3.  and  4.  Same  directions  as  for  2. 

6.  This  will  be  largely  a  matter  of  opinion.   Approximate  as  closely  as  you  can. 

7.  Same  directions  as  for  2.  Be  sure  that  (a)  does  not  include  high  school,  as 
it  probably  does  in  the  annual  report. 

10.  May  be  obtained  from  the  County  Clerk.  Note  that  the  tax  rate  for  all 
municipal  purposes  (including  schools)   is  asked  for. 

11.  May  be  obtained  from  the  County  Clerk.  The  total  tax  rate  for  all  pur- 
poses is  desired. 

12.  The  items  under  this  question  are  used  with  the  same  meaning  as  in  the 
annual  report  made  to  the  county  superintendent.  If  these  items  are  not  kept 
separately  in  unit  systems  for  elementary  schools  and  high  schools,  the  superin- 
tendent is  asked  to  estimate  the  amount  that  should  be  charged  to  each  division 
of  the  school  system.  (6)  is  the  sum  of  1,  2,  3,  4,  and  5.  (10)  may  be  larger  than 
the  sum  of  6,  7,  8,  and  9. 

Indices  of  a  community's  investment  for  educational  purposes. 

A  community's  investment  for  educational  purposes  is  represented 
by  the  value  of  the  school  plant  and  by  the  current  expenditures 
made  for  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  school.^  Along  with  these  two 
items  the  amount  of  indebtedness,  bonded  and  otherwise,  should  be 
considered.  For  making  comparisons  with  other  cities,  it  is  necessary 
to  secure  an  index  of  the  educational  investment  that  a  community 


*See  list  above  for  a  specification  of  the  items  included  under  current  expendi- 
tures. 


[12] 


TABLE  I.   RATIO  OF  ASSESSED  VALUATION  TO  TRUE  VALUATION 


City 

Reported  by 
Superintendent 

Reported  by 
Principal 

Centralia 

.33^4 

.33h 

A6}i 

.50 

.33^ 

.33^4 

.20 

.40 

.40 

.50 

.25 

.25 

.50 

.12J4 

.16% 

DuQuoin 

East  Moline 

Eldorado 

.50 

Granite  City 

.10 

Hillsboro 

LaSalle 

Lawrenceville 

Litchfield 

Marion 

Murphysboro 

Ottawa 

Streator 

.20 

Waukegan 

is  making.  The  tax  rate  is  one  such  index  but  it  is  not  entirely  satis- 
factory because  it  does  not  accurately  represent  the  amount  of  ex- 
penditures for  any  given  year.  Another  index  can  be  secured  by 
taking  the  ratio  of  the  investment  to  the  population  of  the  com- 
munity. A  third  may  be  computed  by  taking  the  ratio  of  the  expen- 
ditures to  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  school  district.  Because  no 
one  of  these  three  indices  alone  is  entirely  satisfactory,  all  of  them 
have  been  used  in  studying  Marion's  investment  for  elementary 
education. 

Assessed  valuation  not  a  valid  index  of  wealth.  The  assessed 
valuation  is  not  a  truthful  index  of  the  wealth  of  the  school  district 
because  the  ratio  of  the  assessed  valuation  to  the  true  value  of  prop- 
erty varies  widely  in  the  different  communities.  The  city  superin- 
tendents, in  the  cities  from  which  comparative  data  were  secured, 
were  asked  to  give  an  estimated  true  valuation.  The  ratios  of  the 
assessed  valuation  to  the  estimated  true  valuation  are  given  in  Table  I. 
These  vary  from  12^  percent  for  Streator  to  50  percent  for  East 
Moline,  Ottawa,  and  Litchfield.  The  high-school  principals  in  these 
cities  were  asked  also  to  give  an  estimated  true  value  of  the  property. 
Two  estimates  were  secured  for  three  cities,  Eldorado,  Streator,  and 
Granite  City.  In  no  case  do  the  two  estimates  agree  even  closely. 
This  disagreement,  as  well  as  the  variation  in  the  ratios,  indicates 
that  the  estimated  valuations  are  not  highly  accurate.   This  conclu- 


[13] 


TABLE  II.   NUMBER  OF  PUPILS  ENROLLED  PER  1000  POPULATION 


City 


1922-1923 

1919-1920 

264 

235 

244 

217 

233 

205 

230 

217 

214 

232 

214 

194 

214 

187 

186 

161 

184 

139 

168 

162 

162 

127 

161 

134 

154 

200 

152 

125 

150 

145 

149 

151 

138 

121 

137 

112 

115 

115 

114 

95 

Marion 

Eldorado 

DuQuoin 

Johnston  City. . 

Herrin 

Hillsboro 

Lawrenceville. . . 

Centralia 

Waukegan 

Granite  City 

East  Moline.  . .  . 
Murphysboro. .  . 
Spring  Valley. .  . 

Harvey 

Litchfield 

Clinton 

Streator 

Chicago  Heights 

Ottawa 

LaSalle 


sion  Is  corroborated  by  the  comments  of  a  number  of  superintendents 
and  by  the  refusal  of  others  to  give  an  estimated  true  value  of  the 
property  within  the  boundaries  of  the  district. 

Although  the  assessed  valuation  Is  clearly  not  a  valid  Index  of 
the  wealth  of  the  district,  it  has  been  used  in  preference  to  the  esti- 
mated true  values.  This  had  been  done  for  two  reasons — first,  an 
estimate  of  the  true  value  was  not  received  from  a  number  of  cities; 
second,  there  was  no  evidence  to  show  that  the  estimated  values 
would  be  more  valid  Indices  of  the  actual  wealth. 

Indices  of  educational  needs.  The  educational  needs  of  a  com- 
munity are  represented  by  the  number  of  children  to  be  educated. 
One  measure  of  this  is  the  school  census  but,  since  the  number  of 
pupils  attending  parochial  or  private  schools  varies  from  community 
to  community,  it  is  not  a  valid  index.  In  studying  Marion's  educa- 
tional needs  the  number  of  pupils  reported  as  being  in  average  daily 
attendance  for  the  school  year  of  1922-23  has  been  used.  The  tables 
of  this  chapter  include  the  ratio  of  the  educational  investments  of 
the  several  communities  to  the  number  of  pupils  in  average  daily 
attendance.  This  ratio  is  an  index  of  the  extent  to  which  a  com- 
munity is  providing  for  its  educational  needs. 


[14] 


TABLE  III.   CURRENT  EXPENDITURES  FOR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 
FOR  ITEMS  PER  PUPIL  IN  A.  D.  A. 


City 


Total 

Instruc- 
tion 

General 
Control 

Opera- 
tion 

Mainte- 
nance 

77.55 

56.84 

4.41 

12.42 

2.53 

75.70 

49.72 

8.62 

6.98 

10.38 

71.38 

54.31 

2.11 

8.90 

5.53 

61.43 

41.63 

4.47 

9.47 

2.72 

59.72 

44.19 

3.70 

8.23 

2.89 

54.81 

32.16 

3.81 

11.42 

7.27 

52.30 

33.99 

3.39 

7.58 

4.65 

51.41 

33.13 

2.66 

11.55 

2.03 

46.12 

33.28 

3.59 

39.73 

32.15 

.40 

2.77 

1.33 

39.18 

30.72 

1.53 

6.93 

36.11 

26.17 

2.96 

5.47 

1.52 

35.57 

34.25 

26.16 

2.37 

3.25 

1.08 

33.07 

25.05 

1.92 

3.37 

.68 

32.16 

22.34 

2.59 

3.96 

3.15 

20.92 

22.93 

48.32 

35.30 

3.24 

7.34 

3.76 

Auxili- 
aries 


Streator 

Ottawa 

Waukegan 

Harvey 

LaSalle 

Clinton 

Hillsboro 

East  Moline 

Chicago  Heights 
Murphysboro. . . 

Litchfield 

Spring  Valley. . . 
Johnston  City. . 
Lawrenceville.. . 

Marion 

Eldorado 

Centralia 

DuQuoin 

Average 


1.35 
1.54 

.52 
3.14 

.71 

.14 
2.69 
2.04 

.42 
3.09 


1.38 
2.05 

.11 


1.48 


Marion's  educational  needs  relatively  large.  The  ratio  of  the 
number  of  school  children  to  the  population  of  a  community  is  not 
constant.  Some  communities  have  relatively  greater  educational 
needs  than  others.  In  Table  II  the  number  of  pupils  enrolled  per 
one-thousand  population  is  given  for  the  school  years  of  1919-20  and 
of  1922-23.  The  population  stated  in  the  1920  Federal  Census  is 
used  in  all  cases,  whereas  the  enrollment  figures  for  1919-20  are 
taken  from  the  Illinois  School  Directory  of  that  year,  and  for  1922-23, 
from  the  questionnaire  which  was  sent  the  superintendents.  Correc- 
tion has  been  made  for  the  number  of  non-resident  or  tuition  pupils. 
It  is  noted  that  the  number  of  pupils  (264)  enrolled  in  the  elementary 
school  per  one-thousand  population  is  greater  for  Marion  than  for 
any  other  city  of  this  group.  Thus  we  are  justified  in  the  statement 
that  Marion's  educational  needs  are  relatively  large. 

Current  expenditures  for  elementary  education.  Current  expen- 
ditures for  elementary  education  as  defined  here  include  the  following 
items:  (1)  instruction,  (2)  general  control,  (3)  operation,  (4)  main- 
tenance, and  (5)  auxiliary.  These  expenditures,  with  the  exception 
of  the  amount  spent  for  capital  outlay,  represent  the  annual  invest- 
ment for  the  school  year  of  1922-23.   In  Table  III,  the  amounts  for 


[15] 


TABLE  IV.   ESTIMATED  VALUE  OF  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  PROPERTY 


City 


Total 


Per  Pupil 
in  A.  D.  A. 


Per 

Capita 


Per  $1000 

Assessed 

Value 


Murphysboro 

Clinton 

Streator 

Ottawa 

La  Salle 

Litchfield..  .. 

Hillsboro 

DuQuoin .... 
East  Moline. . 

Ccntralia 

Harvey 

Marion 

Spring  Valley, 

Eldorado 

Lawrenceville 
Granite  City. 

Herrin 

Average . 


495,000 
275,000 
435,000 
266,000 
300,000 
206,000 
200,000 
275,000 
229,950 
200,000 
175,000 
350,000 
100,000 
112,000 
94,000 
601 ,000 
250,000 


331.55 
286.16 
258.62 
247.67 
241.16 
226.13 
221.24 
204.77 
204.22 
161.68 
153.37 
151.78 
102.04 
99.29 
92.70 


198.83 


46.25 
46.63 
29.43 
24.59 
22.99 
33.15 
39.42 
37.75 
26.51 
16.01 
18.99 
36.53 
15.40 
22.38 
18.50 
40.73 
22.76 
29.30 


206.25 

152.78 

85.29 

57.21 

74.63 

128.31 

120.48 

101.85 

96.54 

61.29 

79.56 

145.30 

85.95 

117.15 

52.45 

117.04 

125.00 

106.30 


the  several  items  of  current  expenditures  per  pupil  in  average  daily 
attendance  arc  given  for  Marion  and  for  the  other  cities  with  which 
comparisons  are  made.  In  this  table  the  figures  given  for  the  several 
items  are  not  accurate  in  a  number  of  cases.  For  example,  the  varia- 
tion in  the  amounts  for  general  control  is  so  great  as  to  be  unreason- 
able, and  is  probably  due  to  differences  in  bookkeeping  which 
resulted  in  a  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  items  charged  to  general  con- 
trol.   Similar  conditions  are  apparent  in  the  other  sub-items. 

In  this  table  Marion  occupies  fifteenth  place  among  seventeen 
cities  in  total  current  expenditures.  When  only  the  amounts  expended 
for  instruction  are  considered,  it  ranks  fourteenth  among  sixteen 
cities.  The  average  total  current  expenditures  per  pupil  in  daily 
attendance  is  $48.32.  That  for  Marion  is  $33.07.  If  instruction  is 
considered  separately  the  average  expenditure  per  pupil  in  average 
daily  attendance  is  $35.30.  For  Marion  it  is  $25.05.  Thus  it  is  clear 
that  when  judged  with  respect  to  current  expenditures  per  pupil  in 
average  daily  attendance  Marion  occupies  a  position  near  the  bottom 
in  this  list  of  cities,  although  it  is  not  the  lowest  for  any  of  the  items 
except  maintenance. 


[16] 


Value  of  school  plant.  Table  IV  gives  the  total  estimated  value 
of  the  school  plant,  the  value  per  pupil  in  average  daily  attendance, 
per  capita,  and  per  ^1000  of  assessed  valuation.  The  amounts  re- 
ported as  the  "total  valuation"  of  the  school  plants  are  probably 
only  estimates  in  all  cases  and  therefore  cannot  be  considered  highly 
accurate.^  Furthermore,  the  present  value  of  a  school  plant  is  not 
necessarily  a  valid  index  of  its  usefulness  for  school  purposes.  For 
example,  old  buildings  will  in  general  be  valued  less  than  newer 
ones  containing  the  same  number  of  classrooms.  This  is  due  partly 
to  the  increased  cost  of  building  during  recent  years  and  partly  to 
the  fact  that  allowance  must  be  made  for  depreciation  in  the  case  of 
an  old  building.  Hence,  the  data  in  Table  IV  are  only  roughly 
comparable  because  of  variations  in  the  date  of  construction  of 
the  school  plants  in  the  different  cities.  However,  some  indication  is 
given  of  the  capital  outlay  of  the  buildings  and  equipment  provided 
for  elementary  education  by  the  various  cities. 

Marion  ranks  twelfth  among  fifteen  cities  in  the  value  of  school 
property  per  pupil  in  average  daily  attendance.  When  considered 
with  reference  to  assessed  valuation  it  ranks  third  among  seventeen, 
and  with  reference  to  per  capita  investment,  sixth  among  seventeen. 
The  average  value  of  school  property  per  pupil  in  average  daily 
attendance  is  ^198.83;  Marion's  investment  is  ^151.78.  When  the 
investment  is  considered  with  reference  to  the  population,  that  for 
Marion  is  approximately  equal  to  the  average  for  the  entire  group 
of  cities.  Thus  we  may  conclude  that  the  school  plant  of  Marion, 
when  considered  with  reference  to  the  population  of  the  city,  is  ap- 
proximately average  but,  with  reference  to  the  assessed  valuation, 
is  distinctly  above  the  average.  However,  Marion  has  a  relatively 
larger  number  of  children  to  educate  than  most  cities,  and  its  school 
plant,  when  considered  in  regard  to  the  number  of  pupils  in  average 
daily  attendance,  is  distinctly  inadequate  in  comparison  with  pro- 
visions made  in  other  cities.  However,  It  should  be  noted  that  Marion 
does  not  occupy  last  place  in  this  respect. 


^For  example,  the  total  original  cost  of  the  six  buildings  at  Marion  was  given 
as  $189,000.  The  estimated  value  is  $350,000.  The  difference  between  these  amounts 
is  so  great  that  one  naturally  doubts  the  accuracy  of  the  estimated  value. 


[17] 


TABLE  V.    INDEBTEDNESS  FOR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


City 


Bonded 


Other 


Total 


Per 
Pupil  in 
A.  D.  A. 


Per 

Capita 


Per $1000 

Assessed 
Valuation 


Harvey 

Waukegan 

Chicago  Heights 

La  Salle 

East  Moline 

Marion 

Centralia 

Eldorado 

Streator 

Murphysboro. . . 

Clinton 

Ottawa 

Hillsboro 

Litchfield 

DuQuoin 

Lawrenceville. . . 
Granite  City.  .  . 

Herrin 

Average 


110,000 

354,500 

202,400 

118,000 

90,500 

108,000 

54,000 

25,000 

55,000 

21 ,000 

20,000 

12,000 

9,000 

9,000 

12,000 

1,900 

210,000 

30,000 


85,000 
95,000 

57,000 

20,000 
20,000 


100,000 


195,000 

354,500 

297,400 

118,000 

90,500 

165,000 

54,000 

45,000 

55,000 

41 ,000 

20,000 

12,000 

9,000 

9,000 

12,000 

1,900 

310,000 

30,000 


170.90 

125.89 

99.77 

94.86 

80.37 

71.55 

43.65 

39.89 

32.70 

27.46 

20.81 

11.17 

9.96 

9.88 

8.94 

1.87 


53.10 


21.16 

18.44 

15.13 

9.04 

10.43 

17.22 

4.32 

8.99 

3.72 

3.83 

3.39 

1.11 

1.77 

1.45 

1.65 

.37 

21.01 

2.73 

8.10 


88.65 

47.15 

67.91 

29.35 

38.00 

68.50 

16.55 

47.07 

10.78 

17.08 

11.11 

2.58 

5.42 

5.61 

4.44 

1.06 

60.37 

15.00 

29.81 


Indebtedness.    Table  V  gives  the  facts  with  reference  to  the. 
indebtedness  reported  for  the  various  school  systems.    The  amount 
of   indebtedness    is    significant   when   considering   the   community's' 
investment  for   educational  purposes.    A  tax  rate  does   not  neces-, 
sarily  represent  what  the  community  actually  spends  for  it  may  be , 
spending  more  than  the  revenue  received.   In  Marion  and  a  number 
of  other  cities  a  considerable  indebtedness  other  than  bonded  is  re- 
ported.  This  means  that  the  expenditures  during  recent  years  have 
been  in  excess  of  the  total  revenue  received.   When  considered  with 
reference  to  the  number  of  pupils  in  average  daily  attendance,  Marlon 
ranks  sixth  among  seventeen  cities;  with  reference  to  population,  it 
is  fourth  among  nineteen,  and  with  reference  to  assessed  valuation, 
it  is  second  among  nineteen.  Thus  Marion's  indebtedness  is  distinctly 
greater  than  that  of  the  average  or  typical  city  of  this  group. 

Marion's  wealth.  Table  VI  gives  the  total  assessed  valuation 
for  the  several  communities.  It  also  includes  the  amount  per  pupil 
in  average  daily  attendance  and  the  amount  per  capita.  Marion 
ranks  sixteenth  among  eighteen  cities  in  assessed  valuation  per  pupil 
in  average  daily  attendance,  and  twelfth  among  nineteen  cities  when 
the  ratio  of  its  wealth  to  its  population  is  considered.   As  we  pointed 


[18] 


TABLE  VI.  MARION'S  WEALTH 


City 


Total 
Assessed 
Valuation 


Per  Pupil 
in  A.  D.  A. 


Per  Capita 


Ottawa 

La  Salle 

Streator 

Waukegan 

Centralia 

East  Molina.  ..  . 

DuQuoin 

Harvey 

Clinton 

Hillsboro 

Lawrenceville. . . 

Litchfield 

Murphysboro. .  . 
Chicago  Heights 
Spring  Valley. .  . 

Marion 

Eldorado 

Johnston  City. . 

Herrin 

Average 


4,649,663 
4,020,000 
5,100,000 
7,519,000 
3,263,313 
2,381,863 
2,700,000 
2,199,662 
1,800,000 
1,660,000 
1,792,261 
1,605,516 
2,400,000 
4,379,301 
1,163,404 
2,408,851 
956,000 
1,250,104 
2,000,000 


4329 
3232 
3032 
2670 
2638 
2115 
2010 
1928 
1873 
1836 
1768 
1762 
1608 
1469 
1187 
1045 
848 
805 

2009 


429 
308 
345 
391 
261 
275 
371 
239 
306 
327 
353 
258 
224 
223 
179 
251 
191 
175 
182 
278 


out  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  the  assessed  valuation  is  not  a 
true  index  of  the  wealth  of  the  different  communities.  The  estimated 
ratio  between  the  assessed  valuation  and  the  true  valuation  was 
given  for  Marion  as  25  percent.  This  is  lower  than  the  average  for 
the  communities  from  which  estimates  were  secured.  Hence  it  is 
probable  that  if  a  direct  measure  of  the  wealth  of  the  several  com- 
munities could  have  been  secured,  Marion  would  be  found  to  rank 
higher  than  twelfth  among  the  nineteen  cities.  It  is  not  the  most 
wealthy  of  these  nineteen  cities  but  probably  occupies  at  least  an 
average  position  in  this  respect.  Marion's  relatively  low  rank  in 
wealth  per  pupil  is  to  be  expected  since  the  ratio  of  pupils  per  one 
thousand  population  is  larger  than  for  any  of  the  other  cities  of 
this  group. 

Tax  rate  for  elementary  education.  Another  measure  of  the 
support  which  a  community  gives  its  schools  is  obtained  from  the 
tax  rate  for  educational  purposes.  Table  VII  shows  the  rates  for 
educational  and  for  building  purposes  in  this  group  of  cities.  The 
total  rates  vary  from  $1.84  per  $100  in  Clinton  to  $4.00  in  Chicago 
Heights,  Harvey,  Herrin,  and  Granite  City.    It  should  be  remem- 


[19] 


TABLE  VII.    TAX  RATES  FOR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS  PER  $100 
ON  BASIS  OF  ASSESSED  VALUE 


City 


Educational 


Building 


Total 


Chicago  Heights 

Granite  City 

Harvey 

Herrin 

Eldorado 

DuQuoin 

East  Moline.  . .  . 

Centralia 

Waukegan 

Marion 

Hillsboro 

Litchfield 

Murphysboro..  . 
Johnston  City. . 

Streator 

Spring  Valley..  . 

LaSalle 

Lawrence ville. .. 

Ottawa 

Clinton 

Average 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
50 
51 
20 
00 
00 
00 
00 
82m 


2.45 
1.75 
1.90 
1.68 

1.62 
2.34 


1.00 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 

.75 

.50 
1,00 

.75 

.67 

.75 

.75 

.75 

.75 

.9U4 

.20 

.69 

.30 

.43 

.22 
.71 


4.00 

4.00 

4,00 

4,00 

3,75 

3.50 

3.50 

3.26 

2.87 

2.75 

2.75 

2,75 

2.75 

2.73?J 
.65 
.44 
.20 
11 
10 
.84 


3.00 


bered  that  in  all  of  these  cities  the  dual  plan  of  school  organization 
prevails  and  consequently  an  additional  tax  is  levied  for  the  support 
of  the  high  school.  Marion  ranks  eleventh  among  nineteen  cities  in 
its  tax  for  educational  purposes  and  seventh  among  nineteen  for 
building  purposes.  When  the  total  tax  is  considered  it  occupies  tenth 
place  among  twenty  cities.  The  average  total  tax  rate  is  ^3.00; 
Marion's  is  $2.75,  slightly  below  the  average.  Since  the  ratio  of  the 
assessed  valuation  to  the  true  value  of  property  is  less  than  the 
average  for  this  group  of  cities,  the  real  difference  between  the  tax 
rate  for  Marion  and  that  for  the  average  of  these  cities  is  even  greater. 
When  considered  with  reference  to  the  estimated  true  value  of  prop- 
erty the  average  tax  rate  has  been  calculated  to  be  about  $.93 ;  for 
Marlon  it  is  $.69. 

In  addition  to  the  amount  which  the  citizens  of  the  community 
contribute  for  school  purposes,  taxes  are  paid  for  municipal,  county, 
and  state  purposes.  The  total  tax  rate  was  secured  for  several  of 
these  cities,  and  is  given  in  Table  VIII,  together  with  the  percent 
used  for  elementary  schools.  The  total  tax  rates  vary  from  $8.45 
per  $100  of  assessed  valuation  to  $11.62.    The  percent  of  the  total 


[20] 


TABLE  VIII.  TOTAL  TAX  RATES  FOR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 
ON  BASIS  OF  ASSESSED  VALUE 


City 

Total  Tax 

Percent  spent  for 
elementary  schools 

Harvey 

10.23 

9.52 

11.62 

11.37 

8.45 

10.10 

8.57 

9.00 

10.01 

10.50 

39 

East  Moline 

38 

Chicago  Heights 

34 

Eldorado 

33 

Hillsboro 

33 

Centralia 

32 

Streator 

31 

Johnston  City 

30 

Waukegan 

29 

Marion 

26 

tax  which  is  spent  for  elementary  schools  varies  from  26  to  39.  This 
percent  is  less  in  the  case  of  Marion  than  in  any  of  the  other  cities 
of  this  group.  This  means  that  Marion  is  attaching  relatively  less 
importance  to  elementary  education  than  any  of  the  other  cities 
considered.  This  fact  is  very  significant  since  it  probably  reflects 
something  of  the  general  attitude  of  the  community  towards  its 
elementary  schools. 

Summary.  When  considered  with  reference  to  its  educational 
needs,  Marion's  educational  investment  for  1922-23  is  distinctly 
below  the  average  of  the  group  of  cities  with  which  comparison  is 
made.  If  only  current  expenditures  are  considered  Marion  occupies 
an  even  lower  place.  With  respect  to  the  estimated  value  of  school 
property,  which  is  a  rough  index  of  the  educational  investment  made, 
Marion  ranks  below  the  average  of  the  group  when  the  number  of 
children  in  average  daily  attendance  is  taken,  but  above  the  average 
when  the  ratio  to  either  the  population  or  to  the  assessed  valuation 
is  taken.  Marion  ranks  high  with  reference  to  indebtedness  and  low 
with  reference  to  tax  rate.  If  the  tax  rate  were  based  upon  true  val- 
uation rather  than  assessed  valuation  it  is  likely  that  Marion  would 
occupy  an  even  lower  position. 

Our  data  appear  to  justify  these  statements: 
(1)  Marion,  when  its  population  and  wealth  are  considered,  has 
been  reasonably  generous  in  providing  a  school  plant.   However,  this 
plant  does  not  meet  the  educational  needs  as  well  as  they  are  met 
in  other  communities. 


[21] 


(2)  Marion  ranks  distinctly  below  average  in  its  current  edu- 
cational investment,  but  is  spending  more  money  than  is  being  raised 
by  taxation. 

(3)  The  ratio  of  assessed  valuation  to  true  valuation  seems  to 
be  somewhat  lower  in  Marion  than  in  other  cities, 

(4)  Only  26  percent  of  the  total  taxes  paid  by  the  citizens  of 
Marion  is  devoted  to  the  elementary  schools.  This  is  a  lower  ratio 
than  is  found  in  any  of  the  other  cities  of  this  group. 


[22] 


CHAPTER  III 
BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT 

Dates  of  construction  and  original  costs  of  buildings.    The 

dates  of  construction  and  approximate  costs  of  the  six  buildings  in 
which  the  elementary-school  system  of  Marion  is  housed  are  as 
follows : 

Washington,   18   rooms    (Manual   Training   Shop   in   base- 
ment), 1888  or  earlier,  ^10,000.  Addition,  1896,  ^8,000. 

Logan,  16  rooms,  1902,  $20,000.    Addition  and  refinishing, 
1922,  $55,000. 

Lincoln,  9  rooms  (I  in  basement),  1904,  $10,000.    Second 
story  and  refinishing,  1921,  $40,000. 

Jefferson,  9  rooms  (1  in  basement),  1908,  $16,000. 

Douglas  (colored),  3  rooms,  1912,  $5,000. 

McKinley,  8  rooms,  1916,  $25,000. 
The  information  furnished  the  Survey  Staff  did  not  indicate 
whether  the  figures  given  above  included  the  cost  of  the  site  or  not 
but  this  item  was  relatively  small  in  all  cases.  The  total  of  the  above 
costs  is  $189,000.  In  the  questionnaire,  which  was  used  to  gather 
facts  relative  to  Marion's  educational  investment,  the  estimated 
present  value  of  the  school  plant  was  given  as  $350,000. 

General  status  of  buildings  and  equipment.  In  addition  to  the 
casual  observations  made  by  other  members  of  the  Survey  Staff, 
Charles  W.  Odell  and  George  W.  Reagan  rated  the  school  buildings 
by  the  Strayer-Engelhardt  Score  Card.  It  was  obvious  that  both 
buildings  and  equipment  do  not  meet  our  present  standards  and 
hence  probably  tend  to  place  limitations  upon  the  efficiency  of  the 
work  of  the  school.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that  the 
need  for  improving  the  buildings  and  equipment  had  been  recognized 
both  by  the  superintendent  and  by  the  board  of  education. 

The  members  of  the  Survey  Staff  were  impressed  by  the  fact 
that,  with  slight  changes  In  the  original  plans,  from  one  hundred  to 
two  hundred  points,  according  to  the  Strayer-Engelhardt  card,  could 
have  been  added  to  the  scores  of  four  or  five  of  the  buildings.  These 
changes  would  have  involved  no  increase  in  cost  in  the  majority  of 
cases,  and  not  more  than  5  percent  in  any  case.    In  judging  the  gen- 

[23] 


eral  status  of  school  buildings  it  should  be  remembered  that  our 
present  standards,  especially  in  regard  to  elementary  schools,  are 
largely  a  product  of  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years.  The  shortcomings 
of  the  older  buildings  at  Marion  are  due  in  part  to  the  date  of  their 
construction.  With  the  possible  exception  of  the  Washington  build- 
ing, erected  about  1888,  an  architect  who  claimed  a  knowledge  of 
school-house  construction  has  in  every  case  been  employed  and  his 
advice  followed.  It  would  appear,  from  the  information  secured, 
that  the  board  of  education  has  made  an  honest  effort  to  provide 
satisfactory  school  buildings. 

School  buildings  evaluated  by  the  Strayer-Engelhardt  Score 
Card  for  Measuring  Elementary  School  Buildings.  The  authors  of 
the  Strayer-Engelhardt  Score  Card  have  had  an  unusual  opportunity 
for  studying  school  buildings  and  have  formulated  standards  for 
judging  them.  The  present  card  is  the  result  of  several  years  of 
experience  in  which  they  have  evaluated  more  than  a  thousand  school 
buildings.  It  is  similar  in  its  general  structure  to  the  score  cards  used 
by  agriculturists  for  rating  live  stock  and  other  farm  products.  It 
consists  of  a  list  of  points  which  are  to  be  considered  in  judging  the 
building,  and  is  accompanied  by  detailed  instructions  for  evaluation 
with  reference  to  each  of  these  points.  In  most  cases  this  evaluation 
is  highly  objective.  In  using  this  score  card  the  two  members  of  the 
Survey  Staff  worked  independently  and  the  scores  given  in  Table  IX 
are  the  averages  of  the  two  ratings. 

Five  major  points  are  considered  in  judging  a  building:  (1)  site, 
(2)  the  building  itself,  (3)  service  system,  (4)  class  rooms,  (5)  special 
rooms.  Under  each  of  these  major  heads  there  are  a  number  of  sub- 
items.  In  using  the  card  a  single  item  at  a  time  is  concentrated  upon 
and  a  judgment  formed  with  reference  to  it  independently  of  all 
other  items.  Detailed  directions  for  arriving  at  valid  judgments  are 
given.  The  various  sub-items  included  under  the  five  major  divisions 
of  the  Strayer-Engelhardt  Score  Card  for  Measuring  Elementary 
School  Buildings  are  listed,  as  follows: 

I.  Site  II-  Building 

A.  Location  A.  Placement 

1.  Accessibility  1.  Orientation 

2.  Environment  2.  Position  on  site 

B.  Drainage  B.  Gross  Structure 

1.  Elevation  1.  Type 

2.  Nature  of  soil  2.  Material 

C.  Size  and  form  3.  Height 

[24] 


II.  Building  (continued) 

4.  Roof 

5.  Foundations 

6.  Walls 

7.  Entrances 

8.  Aesthetic  balance 

9.  Condition 

C.  Internal  Structure 

1.  Stairways 

2.  Corridors 

3.  Basement 

4.  Color  Scheme 

5.  Attic 

III.  Service  System 

A.  Heating  and  Ventilation 

1.  Kind 

2.  Installation 

3.  Air  supply 

4.  Fans  and  motors 

5.  Distribution 

6.  Temperature   control 

7.  Special  provisions 

B.  Fire  Protection  System 

1.  Apparatus 

2.  Fireproofness 

3.  Escapes 

4.  Electric  wiring 

5.  Fire  doors  and  partitions 

6.  Exit  lights  and  signs 

C.  Cleaning  System 

1.  Kind 

2.  Installation 

3.  Efficiency 

D.  Artificial  Lighting  System 

1.  Gas  and  electricity 

2.  Outlets  and  adjustment 

3.  Illumination 

4.  Methods  and  fixtures 

E.  Electric  Service  System 

1.  Clock 

2.  Bell 

3.  Telephone 

F.  Water  Supply  System 

1.  Drinking 

2.  Washing 

3.  Bathing 

4.  Hot  and  cold 


III.  Service  System   (continued) 
G.  Toilet  System 

1.  Distribution 

2.  Fixtures 

3.  Adequacy  and  arrangement 

4.  Seclusion 

5.  Sanitation 

IV.  Class  Rooms 

A.  Location  and  Connection 

B.  Construction  and  Finish 

1.  Size  and  number 

2.  Shape 

3.  Floors 

4.  Walls 

5.  Doors 

6.  Closets 

7.  Blackboards 

8.  Bulletin  board 

9.  Color  scheme 

C.  Illumination 

1.  Glass  area 

2.  Windows 

3.  Shades 

D.  Cloakrooms  and  Wardrobes 

E.  Equipment 

1.  Seats  and  desks 

2.  Teacher's  desk 

3.  Other  equipment 
V.  Special  Rooms 

A.  Large  Rooms  for  General  Use 

1.  Playroom 

2.  Auditorium 

3.  Library 

4.  Gymnasium 

5.  Swimming  pool 

6.  Lunch  room 

B.  Rooms  for  School  Officials 

1.  Officers 

2.  Teachers'  room 

3.  Medical  suite 

4.  Janitor's  room 

C.  Other  Special  Service  Rooms 

1.  Household  arts 

2.  Industrial  arts 

3.  General  science  and  drawing 

4.  Store  rooms 


Ratings  of  Marion  school  buildings.  The  ratings  for  each  build- 
ing on  the  Strayer-Engelhardt  Score  Card  are  given  in  detail  in 
Table  IX.  The  maximum  score  for  each  item  and  also  for  the  totals 
is  placed  in  the  first  column.    In  interpreting  the  table  the  score  for 


[25] 


TABLE  IX.    SCORES  OF  MARION  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS 


Items  Rated 


H 

o 

Scores  Assigned 

g 

D 

B 

o 
Q 

o 

u 

C 

c 

ca 

G 

55 

41 

50 

51 

50 

48 

30 

22 

21 

23 

21 

21 

40 

25 

25 

25 

25 

25 

125 

88 

96 

99 

96 

94 

25 

22 

22 

22 

25 

25 

60 

41 

44 

53 

46 

52 

80 

30 

44 

58 

52 

63 

165 

93 

110 

133 

123 

140 

80 

20 

19 

36 

31 

37 

65 

30 

26 

15 

18 

22 

20 

9 

11 

12 

12 

12 

20 

6 

2 

11 

11 

13 

15 

5 

5 

5 

5 

7 

30 

2 

10 

10 

11 

10 

50 

8 

25 

35 

29 

32 

280 

80 

98 

124 

117 

133 

35 

35 

30 

30 

32 

35 

95 

54 

56 

61 

65 

65 

85 

57 

64 

62 

64 

67 

25 

5 

19 

19 

12 

19 

50 

29 

38 

31 

29 

34 

290 

180 

207 

203 

202 

220 

65 

5 

0 

3 

11 

8 

35 

0 

13 

10 

15 

15 

40 

0 

30 

30 

26 

29 

140 

5 

43 

43 

52 

52 

1000 

446 

554 

602 

590 

639 

II. 


III. 


IV. 


Site 

A.  Location 

B.  Drainage 

C.  Size  and  Form 

Total 

Building 

A.  Placement 

B.  Gross  Structure 

C.  Internal  Structure 

Total 

Service  System 

A.  Heating  and  Ventilation 

B.  Fire  Protection  System 

C.  Cleaning  System 

D.  Artificial  Lighting  System.. . . 

E.  Electric  Service  System 

F.  Water  Supply  System 

G.  Toilet  System 

Total 

Class  Rooms 

A.  Location  and  Connection  .  . . 

B.  Construction  and  Finish.  .  . .  , 

C.  Illumination 

D.  Cloakrooms  and  Wardrobes. 

E.  Equipment 

Total 

Special  Rooms 

A.  Large  Rooms  for  General  Use 

B.  Rooms  for  School  Officials.  . . 

C.  Other  Special  Service  Rooms  . 
Total 

Grand  Total , 


40 
18 
20 

78 


25 
30 
25 
80 


15 
14 
11 

5 

5 

10 

25 
85 


30 
47 
50 
5 
29 
161 


14 

25 

429 


a  building  in  each  case  should  be  compared  with  the  maximum  score. 
For  example,  the  Douglas  building  received  a  score  of  41  on  location. 
This,  when  compared  with  the  perfect  score,  55,  means  that  the 
Douglas  building  is  reasonably  well  located.  The  Lincoln  building 
has  a  score  of  51  which  indicates  a  location  superior  to  that  of  the 
Douglas  building.     The  total  maximum  score  for  site  is  125.     The 


[26] 


TABLE  X. 


SUMMARY  OF  SCORES  FOR  ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL  BUILDLNGS 


Lawrence 

Scores 

Marion 

Hacken- 
sack, N.  J. 

Ottawa, 
Kansas 

Dodge 

City, 

Kansas 

Township 
Mercer  Co. 

N.J. 

Rural 

Large 
Cities* 

900 

1 

800 

1 

1 

700 

2 

15 

600 

2 

2 

1 

47 

500 

2 

1 

80 

400 

2 

1 

1 

1 

63 

300 

3 

2 

4 

66 

200 

31 

100 

24 

0 

6 

T 

6 

5    ■ 

5 

4 

5 

334 

Median 

550 

625 

383 

400 

363 

463 

*Slrayer,   G.    D.    and   Engelhardt,   N.    L.     "Standards    for   elementary   school    buildings."     New 
York:     Bureau  of  Publications,   Teachers  College,  Columbia   University,   1923,  p.   2. 
The  cities   included  are  Atlanta,  Baltimore,  St.  Paul,   Omaha,   and  St.   Joseph. 

grand  total  of  the  scores  received  on  all  items  is  given  on  the  lowest 
line  of  the  table  and  is  an  index  of  the  general  status  of  the  different 
buildings. 

A  study  of  Table  IX  reveals  the  shortcomings  of  the  several 
buildings  as  indicated  by  the  Strayer-Engelhardt  Score  Card.  The 
Washington  building,  with  a  score  of  429,  is  the  poorest.  The  Mc- 
Kinley  building,  with  a  score  of  639,  although  ranking  highest,  falls 
far  short  of  the  perfect  score  of  1000.  When  the  various  items  are 
considered  separately,  a  considerable  variation  from  building  to 
building  is  noted.  For  example,  the  ratings  for  the  heating  and 
ventilation  system  vary  from  15  for  the  Washington  building  to  37 
for  the  McKinley.  The  ratings  for  cloakrooms  and  wardrobes  range 
from  5  for  the  Douglas  and  Washington  buildings  to  19  for  the 
Jefferson,  Lincoln,  and  McKinley. 

Table  X  gives  comparative  scores  for  elementary-school  build- 
ings of  other  cities.  In  making  comparisons  between  these  scores  and 
those  for  Marion,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  probably  the 
buildings  in  those  cities  for  which  scores  have  been  reported  are  not 
typical  of  school  buildings  in  general,  because  one  motive  for  making 
the  building  survey  was  the  recognition  of  the  inadequacy  of  the 
buildings.   Hence  the  status  of  elementary-school  buildings  in  general 


[27] 


is  probably  higher  than  is  indicated  by  this  table.  Another  point  to 
be  borne  in  mind  is  that  the  cities  for  which  comparative  data  are 
available  are  not  similar  to  Marion  in  a  number  of  respects.  How- 
ever, the  conclusion  is  probably  justified  that  the  elementary-school 
buildings  at  Marion  are  not  inferior  to  those  in  many  other  cities  and 
are  even  superior  to  those  in  several  cities.  This  conclusion,  however, 
should  not  overshadow  the  fact  that  the  buildings  at  Marion,  par- 
ticularly the  Washington,  are  far  from  meeting  present-day  standards. 

Location  of  buildings.  The  location  of  the  buildings  with  refer- 
ence to  the  distribution  of  the  population  of  the  district  is  reasonably 
satisfactory.  A  large  majority  of  the  children  do  not  have  to  walk 
more  than  half  of  a  mile  to  reach  their  school.  The  only  marked 
exceptions  to  this  are  in  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades  which 
are  centered  in  one  building.^  In  these  grades  some  children  are 
required  to  walk  more  than  one  mile  but  none  as  much  as  two  miles. 
A  few  lower-grade  children,  who  reside  outside  of  the  city  limits,  are 
obliged  to  travel  more  than  one  mile  to  reach  the  Jefferson  building. 

In  general  the  environment  of  the  schools  is  good.  No  other 
buildings  that  cause  danger  from  fire  or  interference  with  the  light 
are  in  close  proximity.  A  few  trees  close  to  the  Lincoln  building 
interfere  somewhat  with  the  light  in  the  rooms  on  the  first  floor.  No 
particularly  disturbing  factors  were  noted  in  the  environment,  except 
for  the  dust  from  dirt  streets,  of  which  from  one  to  four  are  next  to 
each  site,  and  for  the  railroad  tracks  in  the  immediate  rear  of  the 
Washington  grounds.  In  most  cases  the  school  grounds  are  sur- 
rounded by  modest  homes.  At  the  Washington  building,  however, 
and  to  a  lesser  extent  at  the  McKinley,  there  are  a  number  of  un- 
sightly barns  and  other  out-houses  adjacent  to  the  school  grounds  or 
immediately  across  the  street. 

Playgrounds  and  equipment.  With  the  exception  of  the  Wash- 
ington school,  from  125  to  200  or  more  square  feet  of  actual  play- 
ground space  are  provided  for  each  pupil.  The  Washington  school 
with  only  about  80  square  feet  per  pupil  is  distinctly  inadequate. 
The  soil  on  the  playgrounds  is  of  the  clay  type  found  in  Marion. 
At  all  buildings  the  surface  of  the  grounds  contains  ashes,  cinders, 
brick  bats,  broken  glass,  and  other  substances,  which  although  they 
do  not  cover  the  entire  grounds  are  present  in  such  quantities  as  to 


*The  sixth  grade  is  housed  in  the  Logan  building  and  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grades  in  the  Washington  building. 

[28] 


be  decidedly  undesirable.  Certain  parts  of  the  playgrounds  at  the 
Jefferson  and  McKinley  buildings  and  the  one  at  the  rear  of  the 
Washington  building  are  unfit  for  play  during  rainy  weather.  On 
several  of  the  playgrounds  a  number  of  shade  trees  are  growing,  and 
on  others  young  trees  have  been  started.  Practically  no  attention 
appears  to  have  been  paid  to  developing  lawns  nor  to  gardens,  shrub- 
bery, etc. 

Playground  equipment  is  decidedly  lacking  at  the  Douglas,  the 
only  equipment  consisting  of  one  rickety  pair  of  basket-ball  goals. 
At  the  Washington  there  are  four  pairs  of  goals  and  two  teeter 
boards.  At  the  McKinley  there  are  six  teeter  boards  and  at  the 
Lincoln,  nine.  At  the  Jefferson  building  there  is  one  pair  of  basket- 
ball goals  and  at  the  Logan  four  pairs  of  basket-ball  goals,  ten  teeter 
boards,  one  slide,  and  an  old  tennis  court  used  for  volley  ball.  When 
the  number  of  pupils  in  the- respective  buildings  is  considered,  these 
provisions  are  seen  to  be  entirely  inadequate.  On  some  of  the  play- 
grounds there  are  remains  of  apparatus  that  could  be  easily  repaired. 
For  example,  there  are  uprights  and  crossbars  for  swings  but  no 
swings  upon  them,  and  supports  for  teeters  but  no  boards. 

Protection  from  fire.  The  McKinley  building  is  the  only  one 
that  can  be  considered  fireproof.  The  Lincoln  might  be  so  considered 
if  the  furnace  room  were  properly  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
building.  The  new  part  of  the  Logan  is  reasonably  satisfactory.  In 
no  cases  are  the  stairways  separated  by  fireproof  enclosures  from 
the  rest  of  the  building.  The  stairs  in  the  Lincoln,  McKinley,  and 
new  part  of  the  Logan  are  of  concrete  and  steel  and  are  therefore 
fireproof.  In  the  other  buildings  they  are  of  wood  construction. 
Three  of  the  buildings  are  provided  with  a  limited  number  of  fire 
extinguishers  but  in  the  other  three  none  could  be  found.  In  the 
Washington  although  there  is  a  fire  hose  in  the  basement  it  is  located 
so  that  it  is  comparatively  inaccessible.  The  equipment  of  fire  ex- 
tinguishers and  of  fire  hose  is  decidedly  inadequate. 

A  few  years  ago  the  board  of  education  had  fire  escapes  con- 
structed at  the  Jefferson,  Lincoln,  and  Washington  buildings.  These 
fire  escapes  are  stairways  constructed  of  concrete  and  extend  at 
right  angles  from  the  walls  of  the  building.  At  the  Jefferson  these 
escapes  are  located  so  that  direct  exit  from  all  four  second-story 
rooms  is  possible.  At  the  Logan  building  the  fire  escapes  are  con- 
veniently located  for  the  second-story  rooms  in  the  older  part  of  the 
building.    At   the   Washington   building   the   escapes   serve   directly 

[29] 


only  a  portion  of  the  second  floor.  The  construction  of  the  fire 
escapes  is  such  that  the  steps,  unless  precautions  are  taken,  are  Hkely 
to  be  Icy  during  the  greater  part  of  the  winter.  No  inquiry  was  made 
concerning  the  practice  In  regard  to  these  outside  stairways;  but  if 
they  were  not  kept  free  from  Ice  they  would  be  dangerous  In  case  of 
fire.  The  outside  doors  to  the  buildings  are  in  general  narrower  than 
the  vestibules  or  corridors;  some  are  provided  with  panic  bolts  but 
not  all  of  these  are  In  good  working  order.  Many  of  the  children 
would  not  be  able  to  open  the  doors.  The  electric  wiring  appeared 
to  be  satisfactory  except  at  the  Washington  and  Douglas  buildings, 
the  condition  at  the  former  being  particularly  unsatisfactory. 

Need  for  repairs.  Probably  the  most  conspicuous  condition  ob- 
served In  the  survey  of  the  buildings  was  the  lack  of  repair.  In  every 
building  there  are  a  number  of  broken  panes  of  glass,  this  number 
exceeding  thirty  in  one  case.  Many  of  these  windows  were  broken 
last  year  If  not  earlier.  Also  there  are  many  cracks  and  even  some 
holes  In  the  plastering.  Evidences  of  leaks  In  the  roof  were  also 
noted.  In  the  McKInley  building  the  walls  have  been  defaced  by 
pupils  and  In  the  Douglas  building  the  original  color,  because  of  the 
smoked  condition  from  the  furnace.  Is  hardly  recognizable.  The 
walls  in  the  Washington  building  are  much  soiled  and  in  need  of 
redecorating.  The  leaders  on  several  of  the  buildings  should  be 
repaired.  A  number  of  the  interior  doors  In  the  Logan  building  have 
sills  under  them  which  should  be  moved  and  which  had  been  placed 
by  the  architect,  the  principal  explained,  in  spite  of  the  protest  of 
the  board  of  education.  There  appears  to  be  great  laxity  in  keeping 
the  toilet  rooms  in  order.  For  example,  in  the  Washington  building 
the  only  lavatory  in  which  the  boys  can  wash  is  out  of  order  and 
has  been  so  for  a  long  time.  In  the  Lincoln  building  almost  half  of 
the  toilet  facilities  cannot  be  used  and  most  of  those  that  are 
unusable  have  been  so  for  several  months.  Several  drinking  foun- 
tains were  observed  which  work  improperly  or  not  at  all.  Perhaps  one 
cause  of  this  condition  Is  the  attitude  of  the  janitors,  one  of  whom 
explained  that  he  knew  the  school  board  was  short  of  funds  and 
therefore  did  not  have  the  heart  to  report  broken  window-panes  or 
to  ask  for  repairs. 

Classrooms.  The  number  of  classrooms  Is  inadequate.  In  order 
to  relieve  the  congestion,  basement  rooms  in  two  buildings  are  being 
used  for  instructional  purposes.  In  both  the  Logan  and  Washington 
buildings  It  Is   necessary  to  use  some  small  rooms  which   are  not 

[30] 


suitable  for  classrooms  and  which  are  very  much  crowded  at  certain 
times  of  the  day.  With  the  exception  of  these  rooms  the  size  of  the 
classrooms  is  reasonably  satisfactory  and  closely  approximates  the 
standard  of  fifteen  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  two-hundred  cubic 
feet  per  pupil.  However,  because  of  the  unusually  large  number  of 
pupils  in  certain  classes  there  are  one  or  more  rooms  in  every  build- 
ing in  which  these  standards  are  not  met.  The  shape  of  the  class- 
rooms is  not  entirely  satisfactory;  many  are  approximately  square, 
or  wider  than  they  are  long. 

The  classroom  floors  are  of  wood.  Those  in  the  McKinley  are 
in  good  condition  and  those  in  the  Lincoln  and  Logan  buildings  are 
reasonably  satisfactory.  However,  the  floors  in  the  Washington 
building  are  badly  worn,  many  boards  being  loose  so  that  they 
squeak  when  one  walks  over  the  floor.  There  are  also  a  number  of 
cracks.  The  walls  are  generally  of  a  rough  finish,  and,  as  has  already 
been  noted,  are  in  need  of  cleaning  or  painting. 

The  blackboards  are  uniformly  of  good  material  but  in  almost 
all  cases  are  placed  too  high.  In  the  Washington  building,  for  ex- 
ample, the  bottom  of  many  of  them  is  36  inches  from  the  floor.  Some 
are  even  higher.  In  other  buildings  many,  if  not  most,  of  the  black- 
boards are  from  three  to  six  inches  too  high  for  the  children  using 
them.  The  best  conditions  are  found  in  the  McKinley  building.  For 
the  first  two  grades  the  bottom  of  the  blackboards  should  be  about 
24  inches  from  the  floor,  and  should  be  increased  about  one  inch  for 
each  grade  up  to  the  eighth.  In  general,  the  amount  of  blackboard 
space  is  satisfactory  except  in  the  Lincoln  building  and  in  the  small 
rooms  of  the  other  buildings.  In  the  Lincoln  building  there  are  sev- 
eral rooms  in  which  not  more  than  half  of  the  pupils  can  work  at 
the  blackboard  at  one  time.  Good  bulletin  boards  are  provided  in 
the  Lincoln  and  Logan  buildings  and  less  satisfactory  ones  in  the 
McKinley,  Washington,  and  Douglas.  The  Jefferson  has  none  at  all. 
A  narrow  bulletin  board  placed  above  the  blackboard  was  found  in 
some  of  the  buildings.   This  practice  is  to  be  commended. 

The  glass  area  for  lighting  is  sufficient  at  the  Douglas  building 
and  except  in  the  basement  rooms  at  the  Jefferson  and  Lincoln 
buildings.  In  each  of  the  other  three  buildings  several  rooms  do  not 
have  sufficient  window  space.  The  standard  ratio  of  glass  area  to 
wall  space  is  from  one-fourth  to  one-fifth.  The  placement  of  win- 
dows, however,  is  not  good  in  a  number  of  instances  and  in  no  cases 
are  standard  requirements  met.    All  windows  should  be  at  the  left 

[31] 


of  the  pupils  when  they  are  seated,  should  reach  almost  to  the  ceiling 
and  should  be  from  three  to  three  and  one-half  feet  from  the  floor; 
the  mullions  should  not  exceed  one  foot  in  width;  and  from  five  to 
seven  feet  of  dead-wall  space  should  be  left  at  the  front  of  the  room. 
The  Logan  building  first  and  the  McKinley  second  most  nearly  ap- 
proximate the  standards.  In  the  other  buildings  there  are  rooms 
which  have  windows  on  at  least  two  sides;  in  many  cases  the  mul- 
lions are  too  wide  and  the  windows  are  found  too  near  the  front 
of  the  room. 

All  of  the  buildings  are  wired  for  electric  lights  but  the  number 
of  lights  provided  is  entirely  inadequate.  The  general  provision  ap- 
pears to  be  four  lights  to  a  room.  However,  in  many  cases,  this 
provision  was  not  met  and  bulbs  were  often  missing.  One  teacher 
expressed  herself  concerning  a  room  in  the  Washington  building  that 
contained  but  one  bulb:  "I  would  just  as  soon  have  a  fire-fly  turned 
loose  in  the  room  as  to  use  this  light  on  a  dark  day."  The  light  is 
direct  in  all  cases,  although  at  the  McKinley  opaque  globes  are  used. 

The  cloakrooms  in  the  Jefferson,  Lincoln,  and  McKinley  build- 
ings and  the  newer  part  of  the  Logan  building  are  reasonably  satis- 
factory. In  the  other  buildings  the  accommodations  are  unsatisfac- 
tory. Closets  for  the  storage  of  supplies  and  teaching  equipment  have 
been  provided  in  only  a  few  of  the  classrooms.  A  number  of  the 
present  closets  are  too  small. 

Classroom  equipment.  The  chief  criticism  of  pupils'  desks  is 
the  small  number  of  adjustable  ones.  In  some  of  the  buildings  there 
are  a  considerable  number  of  the  adjustable  type  but  no  evidence 
that  any  use  was  made  of  this  feature.  Many  of  the  teachers'  desks 
are  unsatisfactory,  some  being  entirely  too  small.  In  several  rooms 
the  teacher  has  only  a  table  and  consequently  no  place  for  storing 
books  and  papers  away  from  the  dust.  The  number  of  chairs  in  many 
rooms  is  insufficient.  Frequently  a  member  of  the  Survey  Staff  found 
that  when  he  visited  a  classroom  the  teacher  was  forced  to  offer  him 
her  own  chair  or  none  at  all.  The  number  of  maps,  charts,  supple- 
mentary readers,  reference  books,  and  other  items  of  teaching  equip- 
ment is  much  less  than  that  found  in  many  elementary  schools.  In 
general  the  teaching  equipment  may  properly  be  described  as  inad- 
equate for  highly  efficient  instruction. 

The  school  system  as  a  whole  is  practically  without  so-called 
special  rooms.  Four  of  the  buildings  have  large  rooms  that  might 
be  used  as  auditoriums,  although  none  of  them  are  so  equipped.    In 

[32] 


three  of  the  buildings  these  rooms  are  on  the  second  floor.  However, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Douglas  school  in  which  the  enrollment  is 
small,  only  a  small  percent  of  the  pupils  could  be  assembled  in  even 
these  rooms.  At  three  of  the  buildings,  the  Lincoln,  Logan,  and 
McKinley,  there  are  one  or  two  basement  rooms  which  might  be 
fitted  up  to  be  used  as  play-rooms  in  bad  weather.  Accommodations 
could  not  be  provided  for  all  pupils  at  the  same  time  but  at  least 
those  in  the  primary  grades  could  be  taken  care  of  and  perhaps  those 
in  some  other  grades  if  recesses  were  given  at  different  times.  It 
would  be  possible  to  provide  play-rooms  at  the  Douglas  and  Jefferson 
buildings  although  some  expense  would  be  involved. 

The  only  building  having  a  lunch-room  is  the  Logan,  and  the 
room  itself  is  all  that  is  furnished  by  the  board  of  education.  The 
furniture  and  equipment  belong  to  private  individuals.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  except  in  the  Washington  and  Logan  buildings  most 
of  the  pupils  reside  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  school  attended, 
there  probably  is  no  need  for  additional  lunch-rooms  in  any  building 
but  the  Washington.  There  is  a  principal's  office  in  all  of  the  build- 
ings except  the  Douglas.  In  three,  the  Jefferson,  Logan,  and  Mc- 
Kinley, there  are  teachers'  rooms  but  in  no  cases  are  they  properly 
equipped.  In  none  of  the  buildings  is  there  a  library,  gymnasium, 
swimming-pool,  or  janitor's  office  other  than  the  furnace  room.  At 
the  Washington  building  there  is  an  industrial-arts  room  and  an 
inadequately  equipped  sewing-room.  There  is  no  room  for  teaching 
cooking  and  drawing. 

Summary.  The  elementary-school  buildings  at  Marion  have  a 
number  of  shortcomings,  several  of  which  could  easily  be  remedied. 
Others  are  partially  or  wholly  inherent  in  the  construction  of  the 
buildings  and  cannot  be  easily  corrected.  The  present  use  of  the  base- 
ment rooms  due  to  crowded  conditions  is  to  be  condemned.  The 
buildings  as  a  group  probably  approach  the  average  of  the  buildings 
in  similar  cities.  No  city  should  be  satisfied,  however,  to  approach 
the  average  because  school  buildings  in  general,  particularly  those 
for  elementary  schools,  are  far  below  present-day  standards  and 
probably  constitute  a  distinct  handicap  upon  the  efficiency  of  ele- 
mentary education. 


[33] 


CHAPTER  IV 

TEACHING  STAFF  AND  QUALITY  OF  INSTRUCTION 

Teaching  staff.  The  teaching  staff  of  the  elementary  schools  of 
Marion  consists  of  fifty-five  teachers,  six  principals,  a  supervisor  of 
music  and  the  superintendent  of  public  schools.  In  the  tables  of  this 
chapter  the  superintendent  of  schools  and  the  supervisor  of  music 
are  omitted. 

Training.  Of  the  sixty-one  teachers  and  principals,  thirty-nine 
have  had  less  than  thirty-six  weeks  of  training  in  a  normal  school  or 
college.  Fifteen  other  teachers  have  had  as  much  as  one  year,  but 
less  than  two  years.  Of  the  remaining  seven  teachers,  five  have  had 
two  years  beyond  the  high  school,  one,  three  years  and  one,  over 
four  years.  Comparative  data  are  not  available  for  other  cities  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  state.  It  is,  therefore,  not  possible  to  state 
the  rank  which  Marion  has  with  respect  to  the  training  of  its  teachers 
but  this  amount  of  training  is  generally  considered  inadequate  prep- 
aration for  efficient  teaching  in  the  elementary  schools. 

The  lack  of  training  has  been  recognized  by  the  board  of  educa- 
tion which  required  thirty-five  teachers  to  attend  school  during  the 
summer  of  1923.  A  number  of  other  teachers  voluntarily  attended 
summer  school.  If  such  attendance  Is  continued,  the  status  of  the 
teaching  staff  with  respect  to  training  will  be  materially  Increased 
during  the  next  few  years. 

Experience.  Only  three  teachers  reported  no  experience  prior 
to  the  present  year.  Eight  were  engaged  In  their  second  year  of 
teaching.  Five  have  had  twenty-five  years  or  more  of  experience; 
twenty-one  have  had  ten  years  or  more.  The  median  number  of 
years  Is  seven,  the  mode  is  four  years.  Slightly  less  than  one-half  of 
the  teachers  have  taught  only  In  the  schools  of  Marion.  This  means 
that  Marion  has  not  been  able  to  attract  a  sufficient  number  of 
experienced  teachers  and  has  found  It  necessary  to  employ  teachers 
without  experience  and  in  many  cases  without  adequate  training. 

Salaries.  Marion  has  not  had  a  definite  salary  schedule  although 
the  board  of  education  has  been  working  toward  one.  The  present 
practice,  with  some  exceptions,  may  be  described  as  follows.  The  teach- 

[34] 


TABLE  XL  SALARIES  OF  TEACHERS  AND  PRINCIPALS 


Grades 

Salary 

Total 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

$  630.00 

1 

1 

652.50 

5 

2 

7 

675.00 

1 

2 

1 

1 

5 

720.00 

1 

1 

787.50 

4 

3 

3 

6 

16 

810.00 

2 

2 

900.00 

1 

2 

3 

1012.50 

8 

1 

7 

2 

18 

1125.00 

1 

1305.00 

1 

1350.00 

1* 

1575.00 

3* 

1* 

1* 

Total 

9 

8 

8 

7 

7 

7 

10 

5 

61 

Average 

1000.00 

807.31 

666.56 

710.36 

1108.93 

900.00 

1001.25 

1251.00 

919.55 

852.14t 

*Principals. 

tAverage,   omitting   principals. 


ers  in  the  first,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades  are  started  usually  at  a 
salary  of  $112.50  per  month  or  $1012.50  for  the  term  of  nine  months. 
In  the  other  grades  the  usual  beginning  salary  is  $70  per  month,  and 
an  increase  of  $2.50  per  month  each  year  is  allowed  until  the  salary 
reaches  $87.50  per  month  as  a  maximum.  The  maximum  salary  for 
principals  is  $1575  per  year. 

A  summary  of  the  salaries  by  grades  is  given  in  Table  XI.  The 
low  salaries  paid  to  teachers  in  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth 
grades  are  perhaps  the  most  significant  features  of  this  table.  Al- 
though Marion's  practice  in  assigning  the  most  poorly  paid  and 
hence,  in  general,  the  least  efficient  teachers,  to  these  grades  is  not 
unusual,  it  is  probably  unwise.  The  foundation  for  the  later  work 
is  laid  in  these  grades  and  it  is  highly  important  that  the  so-called 
"tool  subjects"  be  well  taught. 

Salaries  of  elementary-school  teachers  in  other  cities.  Table 
XII  gives  a  distribution  of  the  salaries  of  elementary-school  teachers 
in  260  cities  having  a  population  between  5000  and  10,000.^  These 
salaries  are  for  1923.  It  should  be  noted  that  some  salaries  lower  than 


^"Teachers'  salaries  and  salary  trends  in  1923."  National  Education  Association 
Research  Bulletin,  Vol.  1,  No.  3.  Washington:  National  Education  Association, 
1923,  p.  16. 

[35] 


TABLE  XII.    DISTRIBUTION  OF  SALARIES  OF  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 

TEACHERS  IN  260  CITIES  HAVING  A  POPULATION 

BETWEEN  5000  AND  10.000.    1922-1923.* 


Salary 

Number  of 
teachers 

Salary 

Number  of 
teachers 

$2500 

1 

$1300 

890 

2400 

2 

1200 

1201 

2300 

1100 

1269 

2200 

1000 

914 

2100 

1 

900 

681 

2000 

7 

800 

499 

1900 

10 

700 

156 

1800 

52 

600 

159 

1700 

127 

Below    600 

38 

1600 

210 

1500 

552 

Total 

7551 

1400 

782 

Median 

$1204.95 

•"Teachers'    salaries    and   salary   trends    in    1923."     National    Education    Association    Research 
Bulletin,  Vol.    1,  No.  3.    Washington:    National  Education  Association,    1923,  p.    16. 


those  paid  in  Marion  are  reported  but  in  general  they  are  distinctly 
greater.  The  median,  ^1204,  is  above  the  average  for  Marlon.  In  the 
same  bulletin  from  which  Table  XII  is  taken  the  median  salary  for 
Illinois  is  given  as  ^1016.  This  is  probably  a  better  criterion  to  use  in 
judging  of  the  salaries  paid  in  Marion  than  the  distribution  given 
in  Table  XII. 

Purchasing  power  of  a  dollar  a  factor  in  comparing  salaries. 
In  making  comparison  between  salaries  paid  in  different  cities,  con- 
sideration should  be  given  to  the  purchasing  power  of  a  dollar.  If  the 
cost  of  living  is  high  in  a  given  community  a  salary  of  $1,500  per 
year  may  be  actually  less  than  one  of  $1,200  per  year  in  another 
community  where  the  cost  of  living  is  much  less.  No  statistical  infor- 
mation was  secured  concerning  the  purchasing  power  of  a  dollar  in 
Marion,  but  the  observation  of  the  Survey  Staff  and  casual  conversa- 
tion with  certain  residents  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  living  costs 
are  somewhat  less  than  in  a  number  of  cities  of  Illinois.  Probably 
the  statement  is  justified,  that  the  purchasing  power  of  a  dollar  in 
Marion  is  greater  than  for  the  average  of  the  state  as  a  whole.  If  this 
is  true,  the  difference  between  the  salaries  paid  in  IVIarion  and  in 
other  places  in  the  state  is  somewhat  less  than  indicated  by  com- 
parisons made  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 


[36] 


Size  of  class.  The  average  daily  attendance  in  rooms  in  which 
the  instruction  is  not  departmentaHzed  is  about  forty-three  pupils. 
The  enrollment,  however,  is  considerably  greater  than  this.  Seven 
teachers  reported  fifty  or  more  pupils  in  average  daily  attendance.  In 
a  recent  study-  the  average  class  size  for  elementary  schools  in 
Illinois  is  shown  to  be  approximately  thirty-six  pupils.  This  figure 
refers  to  enrollment  and  not  to  average  daily  attendance.  Hence  it  is 
clear  that  Marion  should  be  placed  among  those  cities  in  which  the 
class  size  is  distinctly  larger  than  the  average.  In  the  department- 
alized work  the  teachers  meet  from  eight  to  ten  sections  a  day,  the 
average  size  of  each  section  approximating  thirty  pupils.  There  are, 
however,  three  teachers  who  meet  each  day  eight  sections,  four  con- 
taining fifty-two  pupils  and  four,  sixty  pupils.  This  makes  a  total 
of  448  pupils  to  be  instructed  in  the  course  of  the  day.  Another 
teacher  meets  eleven  sections  of  twenty-eight  pupils  each. 

Although  evidence  is  lacking  to  show  the  effect  of  class  size  upon 
the  achievements  of  pupils,  undoubtedly  the  teachers  in  Marion  are 
being  forced  to  carry  a  heavier  load  than  is  the  usual  practice  in 
Illinois.  As  a  result  it  is  not  unlikely  that  they  do  not  find  the  time 
and  energy  to  do  their  work  as  well  as  it  should  be  done. 

Quality  of  instruction.  With  the  exception  of  Charles  E.  Chad- 
sey,  each  member  of  the  Survey  Staff  spent  some  time  in  visiting 
classrooms  for  the  purpose  of  observing  instruction.  No  systematic 
attempt  was  made  to  evaluate  the  instruction  and  the  report  on  this 
phase  of  the  survey  must  be  considered  the  result  of  somewhat 
casual  observation.  The  poor  quality  of  some  of  the  teaching  ob- 
served should  not  be  considered  wholly  the  fault  of  the  teachers.  In 
a  few  cases  classes  are  held  in  rooms  which  are  entirely  unsuitable, 
blackboard  space  is  inadequate,  equipment  is  lacking,  and  the  room 
is  so  crowded  that  the  teacher  cannot  move  about  among  her  pupils. 

Some  excellent  teaching  was  observed.  Certain  teachers  were 
well  acquainted  with  the  subject,  asked  appropriate  questions  and 
exhibited  interest  in  their  work.  The  recitation  moved  along  without 
loss  of  time  and  the  pupils  gave  close  attention  to  the  lesson.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  were  a  few  teachers  who  appeared  to  be  doing  poor 
work.     The   questions   asked   by   them   would   be   rated   low  when 


'Odell,  Charles  W.  ''The  progress  and  elimination  of  school  children  in  Illinois." 
University  of  Illinois  Bulletin,  Vol.  21,  No.  38,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 
Bulletin  No.  19.  Urbana:  University  of  Illinois,   1924. 

[37] 


judged  by  present-day  standards.  Far  too  many  memorized  state- 
ments from  the  text  were  called  for.  More  questions  should  have 
been  asked  which  would  have  required  thinking  on  the  part  of  the 
pupils.  Several  teachers  appeared  to  have  formed  the  habit  of  repeat- 
ing answers  given  by  pupils.  This  is  not  considered  good  practice  as 
it  tends  to  waste  time  and  the  pupils  do  not  feel  the  responsibility 
for  stating  their  answers  so  that  they  will  be  heard  and  understood 
by  all  members  of  the  class.  Errors  in  the  language  of  some  teachers 
were  almost  as  numerous  as  in  that  of  their  pupils. 

In  the  actual  recitation  there  was  frequently  a  waste  of  time. 
This  was  noted  particularly  in  the  arithmetic  work  at  the  blackboard. 
There  was  evidence  that  the  pupils  had  not  been  trained  to  work 
rapidly  in  making  calculations.  A  number  of  pupils  were  noticed  who 
erased  their  work  after  having  nearly  completed  the  example  they 
were  doing.  No  apparent  reason  for  this  was  observed  other  than 
their  feeling  of  the  necessity  for  giving  the  appearance  of  being  busy. 
Several  teachers  seemed  to  have  the  custom  of  requiring  pupils  to 
explain  examples  in  the  fundamental  operations.  This  is  not  con- 
sidered a  profitable  way  to  spend  the  time  of  the  class.  In  general 
the  discipline  was  good  both  in  the  classroom  and  upon  the  play- 
ground; no  instance  of  gross  disorder  was  observed  by  any  member 
of  the  Survey  Stafi". 

When  the  general  quality  of  all  of  the  instruction  observed  is 
considered  it  should  be  reported  as  somewhat  below  the  average  of 
that  in  other  schools  with  which  the  members  of  the  Survey  Staff 
are  acquainted.  Certainly  it  is  below  that  of  recognized  standards. 
The  lack  of  enthusiasm  and  interest  which  was  noted  on  the  part  of 
some  teachers  is  perhaps  not  surprising  in  view  of  the  teaching  load 
that  they  are  asked  to  carry  and  of  the  salaries  that  they  receive. 

Summary.  Marion  pays  relatively  low  salaries  and  hence  the 
teachers  whom  it  has  been  able  to  attract  are,  for  the  most  part, 
inadequately  trained.  The  teaching  load  is  heavy.  The  provisions  for 
supervising  the  Instruction  and  for  the  training  of  teachers  In  service 
are  very  inadequate.  In  the  judgment  of  the  Survey  Staff  the  quality 
of  instruction  is  below  average,  but  probably  not  lower  than  should 
be  expected  when  salaries,  training,  and  provisions  for  supervision 
are  considered. 


[38] 


CHAPTER  V 
COURSE  OF  STUDY 

No  printed  course  of  study.  Marion  has  no  printed  course  of 
study.  The  superintendent  stated  that  a  number  of  years  ago  a 
course  of  study  was  printed  but  all  copies  of  it  seem  to  have  dis- 
appeared. The  state  course  of  study  is  not  used  unless  an  individual 
teacher  wishes  to  do  so.  At  the  monthly  meetings  of  the  teachers  the 
work  of  the  next  month  is  outlined,  and  at  the  end  of  each  week  the 
superintendent  requires  a  statement  from  each  teacher  relative  to  the 
amount  of  work  accomplished. 

Time  allotments.  Fromtypical  daily  programs  and  from  a  gen- 
eral outline  of  the  work,  the  number  of  hours  per  year  given  to  the 
various  subjects  was  calculated.  These  time  allowances,  together  with 
the  norms  determined  by  Holmes^  are  given  in  Table  XIII.  The 
following  classification  by  Holmes  in  his  descriptions  of  the  type  of 
work  included  under  the  various  subjects  was  used  in  Marion. 

Reading — including    phonics,    literature,    dramatics,    story-telling,    memorization    of 

poems. 
Language — including  composition,  grammar,  punctuation,  pronunciation,  word  study. 
Spelling. 
Penmanship. 

Arithmetic — including  algebra,  geometry,  business  arithmetic. 
Geography — including  physical  and  commercial. 
History' — including  civics. 

Science — including  nature  study,  elementary  science,  physiology  and  hygiene. 
Drawing — including  picture  study,  art. 

Manual  training — including  industrial  training,  handwork,  etc. 
Physical  training — including  athletics,  gj^mnastics,  folk  dancing. 
Recess. 
Miscellaneous — including  unassigned  time,  study,  etc. 

The  number  of  hours  per  year  was  calculated  as  follows.   If  the 

daily  program  showed  that  twenty  minutes  per  day  was  given  to  a 

subject,  this  number  was  multiplied  by  five  in  order  to  secure  the 

number  of  minutes  per  week;  this  product  was  in  turn  multiplied  by 

thirty-six,  the  number  of  weeks  in  the  school  year;  the  total  number 


^Holmes,  Henry  W.  "The  distributions  by  subjects  in  grades  in  representative 
cities,"  Fourteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education, 
Part  I.   Chicago:  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1915,  p.  21-27. 

[39] 


TABLE  XIII.   TIME  ALLOTMENTS  FOR  MARION  AND  HOLMES' 

STANDARDS  (HOURS  PER  YEAR.   M  =  TIME  ALLOTMENT 

FOR  MARION.    SUBSTANDARD   TIME 

ALLOTMENT.) 


Subject 


Grades 


Opening  Exercises 

Reading 

Language 

Spelling 

Writing 

Arithmetic 

Geography 

History 

Science 

Drawing 

Music 

Manual  Training.. 
Physical  Training. 

Recess 

Domestic  Science. 
Ready  to  Work. . .  . 

Study 

HygieneJ 


M 

S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 
M 
S 


90 

38 
204 
266 

45 

75 

* 

54 

45 

50 

* 

60 

16 

45 
27 

37 

98 
60 

45 

42 

15 

46 

150 

87 


45 
76 


90 

38 
90 

235 
60 
79 
75 
66 
54 
60 

135 
96 


31 

41 
36 
54 
60 
84 

47 
15 
41 
90 
83 


63 


135 
38 
60 

188 
90 
94 
75 
73 
63 
52 
60 

131 

50 
35 

40 

42 
56 

45 
47 

40 
15 
40 
90 


87 


60 
35 
54 

153 
75 

106 
75 
67 
36 
53 
54 

149 
39 
83 
t 
57 

37 
24 
53 
75 
48 

45 

40 
90 

77 


77 


90 
32 
69 

126 
45 

116 
60 
61 
54 
50 
60 

144 
45 

102 

67 

34 
36 
50 

75 
45 

50 
15 
38 
90 

73 


30 
79 

45 


31 

90 

117 

75 

118 

90 

58 

54 

47 

90 

146 

30 

107 

60 

71 

40 
36 
50 
90 

45 

57 

40 

180 

70 


78 
15 


31 
60 
98 
90 

134 
90 
52 
54 
39 
90 

140 
90 
98 
90 
91 

45 
36 
50 
90 

45 
45 
72 

38 
90 
66 

45 


78 
30 


31 
60 
97 
90 

142 
45 
51 
54 
37 
90 

142 
45 
76 

120 

117 

57 
36 
49 
90 
44 
63 
74 

39 
90 
66 
63 


87 


*First  grade  spelling  and  numbers  are  taught  second  half  of  first  year. 

tHistory  stories  classified  under  Reading. 

tHygiene  and  Health  not  accounted  for  in  daily  program.     6th,   7th  and   8th  grades. 


[40] 


of  minutes  was  then  reduced  to  hours.  In  the  case  of  subjects  which 
were  not  taught  throughout  the  school  year  the  last  multiplier  was 
changed  to  the  number  of  weeks  during  which  the  subject  was 
actually  taught. 

A  study  of  Table  XIII  shows  a  number  of  marked  departures 
from  the  standards  given  by  Holmes.  The  meager  time  allotment  for 
many  of  the  subjects  at  Marion  is  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the 
pupils  assigned  to  a  teacher  are  instructed  in  three  groups.  In  each 
case  the  time  allotments  for  Marion  represent  the  actual  number  of 
hours  spent  by  the  pupils  in  recitation;  those  devoted  to  study 
are  not  included.  If  we  accept  the  standards  stated  by  Holmes  as 
representing  the  amount  of  time  which  should  be  devoted  to  instruc- 
tion in  the  various  subjects,  it  is  very  clear  that  Marion  is  not  giving 
sufficient  time  to  instruction  in  reading,  language,  arithmetic  (except 
in  Grade  II),  and  geography..  No  instruction  is  being  given  in  science 
except  the  work  in  hygiene.  The  time  allowed  spelling,  writing,  music, 
and  recess  is  in  excess  of  Holmes'  standards.  The  limited  time  allot- 
ments for  reading  and  language  are  particularly  significant,  and  are 
probably  one  of  the  most  potent  causes  for  the  relatively  low  achieve- 
ments of  pupils  as  shown  by  standardized  tests,    (See  Chapter  VI.) 

Textbooks.  Several  of  the  textbooks  were  written  a  number  of 
years  ago.  Among  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  are  the  Blodgett 
readers  (1910)  and  the  Wentworth-Smith  arithmetics  (1907).  The 
Alexander  spelling  book  which  is  used  was  prepared  in  1910.  In  view 
of  the  improvements,  which  have  been  made  in  the  textbooks  in 
these  subjects  within  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years,  it  is  likely  that 
those  used  at  Marion  cannot  be  classed  among  the  best  of  the  avail- 
able textbooks  at  the  present  time.  The  superintendent  has  already 
recognized  the  need  for  better  texts,  and  mentioned  that  he  was  look- 
ing forward  to  a  change  not  only  in  reading,  arithmetic,  and  spelling 
but  in  certain  other  subjects  as  well. 

Supplementary  reading  texts.  Marion  has  not  supplied  adequate 
supplementary  reading  material.  In  no  grade  do  the  children  read 
more  than  two  books.  A  number  of  sets  of  supplementary  readers 
should  be  available  for  each  teacher,  and  the  children,  especially  in  the 
first  six  grades,  should  have  this  opportunity  to  read  suitable  books. 
Under  present  conditions  undue  emphasis  is  placed  upon  oral  reading. 
More  attention  should  be  given  silent  reading  but  this  cannot  be  done 
satisfactorily  until  more  generous  provision  is  made  for  supple- 
mentary reading  material. 

[41] 


A  few  teachers  had  sensed  this  need  for  additional  reading 
material;  one  was  encouraging  her  children  to  bring  books  from 
home  which  they  would  lend  to  their  classmates.  Such  practices  are 
commendable  but  the  responsibility  for  providing  sufficient  supple- 
mentary reading  material  should  rest  with  the  school  authorities  and 
not  with  the  individual  teacher. 


[42] 


CHAPTER  VI 
ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  SCHOOL  CHILDREN 

Testing  program.  The  following  standardized  tests  were  used 
in  Marion  for  measuring  the  capacities  of  the  school  children  and 
their  achievements. 

The  Burgess  Picture  Supplement  Scale,  Grades  II  and  III. 

Pressey  Primary  Classification  Test,  Grades  II  and  III. 

Pressey  Intermediate  Classification  Test,  Grades  IV,  V,  and  VI. 

Pressey  Senior  Classification  Test,  Grades  VII  and  VIII. 

Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale,  Grades  IV  to  VIII. 

Monroe's  General  Survey  Scale  in  Arithmetic,  Grades  IV 
to  VIII. 

Monroe's  Standardized  Silent  Reading  Test,  Grades  IV  to  VIII. 

Stanford  Achievement  Test,  Grades  VT  to  VIII. 

All  of  these  tests  were  given  during  the  week,  October  22  to 
October  26,  under  the  direction  of  Ruth  Streitz.  The  tests  were 
administered  by  the  teachers  who  had  been  instructed  by  Miss 
Streitz  in  regard  to  the  procedure  to  be  followed.  With  the  exception 
of  the  Stanford  Achievement  Test,  the  test  papers  were  scored  by 
the  teachers.  This  scoring,  however,  was  sampled  by  a  trained  assist- 
ant and  when  a  teacher  was  found  to  have  followed  a  wrong  method, 
the  test  papers  were  re-scored.  The  scoring  of  the  Stanford  Achieve- 
ment Test  and  all  of  the  tabulations  were  done  at  the  Bureau  of 
Educational  Research  under  the  immediate  direction  of  a  member  of 
the  Bureau  Staff. 

Quality  of  pupil  material.  The  quality  of  the  pupil  material  was 
measured  by  means  of  the  Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale  and 
the  Pressey  Classification  Tests.  The  average  quality  of  the  pupil 
material,  as  revealed  by  the  Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale  in  the 
several  grades,  is  shown  by  the  median  mental  ages  which  are  given 
in  Table  XIV.  A  comparison  of  these  median  scores  with  the  norms^ 
which   are  also  given  in  the  table  show  that  grade  for  grade  the 


'These  norms  are  based  upon  scores  obtained  by  giving  the  Illinois  General 
Intelligence  Scale  in  cities  during  the  month  of  October. 

Monroe,  Walter  S.  "The  Illinois  Examination."  University  of  Illinois  Bulletin, 
Vol.  19,  No.  6.  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  Bulletin  No.  4.  Urbana:  University 
of  Illinois,  1921,  p.  66. 

[43] 


TABLE  XIV. 


MEDIAN  MENTAL  AGES.  ILLINOIS  GENERAL 
INTELLIGENCE  SC.\LE 


Grade 

Marion 

Norms 

VIII 

14-  0 

14-4 

VII 

12-  2 

13-1 

VI 

11-  0 

12-0 

V 

10-  0 

10-8 

IV 

8-11 

9-5 

quality  of  the  pupil  material  is  below  standard.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  median  scores  for  Marion  and  the  norms  varies  from 
almost  a  year  in  the  sixth  grade  to  only  four  months  in  the  eighth 
grade.  It  is  possible  that  a  constant  error  was  introduced  in  the 
Marion  scores  in  some  unknown  way,  but  it  is  not  thought  that  this 
error  can  be  very  large.  This  belief  is  corroborated  by  the  results 
of  the  Pressey  Classification  Tests  (see  Table  XV),  although  these 
results  are  not  entirely  consistent  with  those  secured  by  means  of  the 
Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale.  The  median  scores  for  the  Pressey 
Primary  Classification  Test  in  Grades  II  and  III  are  almost  identical 
with  the  grade  norms.  As  the  Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale  was 
not  given  in  these  two  grades  no  comparison  is  possible.  Above  the 
third  grade  the  median  score  for  Marion  is  in  each  case  below  the 
norm  although  the  difference  in  certain  grades  is  relatively  small. 
This  corroborates  the  results  of  the  Illinois  General  Intelligence 
Scale.  It  appears  therefore  that  at  least  above  the  third  grade  the 
quality  of  the  pupil  material  in  the  Alarion  city  schools  is  below  that 
found  in  the  corresponding  grades  in  other  cities. 

The  mental  age  status  of  the  pupils  assembled  in  any  grade 
depends  upon  the  native  intelligence  of  the  pupils,  and  also  upon 
the  average  age  entrance  and  the  general  policy  of  promotion.  If  the 
average  age  at  entrance  is  low  and  if  a  liberal  policy  Is  followed  in 
promoting  pupils  we  may  expect  to  find  the  average  mental  age  of 
the  pupils  in  the  several  grades  below  the  average  for  other  cities. 

Progress  of  pupils  through  the  school.    In  another  study^  by 

^Odell,  Charles  W.  "The  progress  and  elimination  of  school  children  in  Illinois." 
University  of  Illinois  Bulletin,  Vol.  21,  No.  38,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 
Bulletin  No.  19.  Urbana:   University  of  Illinois,  1924. 

The  data  for  this  study  were  collected  during  the  autumn  of  1922.  Hence  they 
may  not  truthfully  represent  conditions  at  the  time  of  the  survey,  although  it  is 
very  unlikely  that  marked  changes  have  taken  place. 


[44] 


TABLE  XV.  MEDIAN  SCORES  FOR  THE  PRESSEY 
CLASSIFICATION  TESTS 


Grades 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

Marion 

Grade  Norm 

47.7 

47.8 

57.4 

57.0 

26.9 

34.6 

50.9 

52.3 

64.0 

66.8 

21.7 

24.2 

30.9 

31.2 

the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  the  amount  of  retardation  in  the 
Marion  schools  is  shown  to  be  slightly  greater  than  that  for  the  state 
as  a  whole.  The  average  rate  of  progress  for  Marion  was  found  to 
be  .83  while  the  average  for  a  group  of  twenty  cities  similar  to 
Marion  in  population  was  .88.  This  means  that  in  Marion  the  pupils 
progress  through  the  school  system  at  a  rate  which  on  the  average 
will  require  almost  half  of  a  year  more  to  complete  the  eighth  grade 
than  is  required  in  other  Illinois  cities.  The  pupils  of  Marion  at  the 
present  rate  of  progress  would  require  more  than  nine  and  one-half 
years  to  complete  the  work  of  the  eighth  grade  provided  all  pupils 
remained  in  school.  Only  1  percent  of  the  pupils  were  found  to  be 
making  fast  progress  and  33  percent  had  made  slow  progress.  The 
average  over-ageness  for  Marion  was  found  to  be  .5  of  a  year;  that 
for  other  Illinois  cities  .4  of  a  year.  For  Marion,  40  percent  of  the 
children  are  over-age  for  their  grade  as  against  36  percent  for  other 
cities. 

The  retardation  of  pupils  in  the  Marion  schools  should  serve  to 
increase  rather  than  decrease  the  median  general  intelligence  in  the 
several  grades.  Hence  it  is  likely  that  the  quality  of  pupil  material 
is  somewhat  less  than  that  found  in  cities  in  other  sections  of  Illinois. 

Overlapping  in  quality  of  pupil  material.  The  distributions  of 
the  point  scores  of  the  Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale  for  the 
several  grades  are  given  in  Table  XVI.  The  most  conspicuous 
feature  of  this  table  is  the  large  amount  of  overlapping  in  the  quality 
of  the  pupil  material  between  the  several  grades.  There  is  one 
pupil  in  the  fourth  grade  who  made  as  high  a  score  as  the  best  pupil 
in  the  eighth  grade.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  a  few  eighth-grade 
pupils  whose  general  intelligence  as  measured  by  this  scale  is  only 
slightly  above  the  median  for  the  fourth  grade.  A  large  amount  of 
overlapping   indicates   that  the   pupils   are  not  well   classified  with 

[45] 


w 

< 
u 

a 
u 

W 
O 

H 
Z 

<: 
PS 

z 

O 


o 
z 

13 
hj 

o 

W 

O 
u 

CO 

fa 
O 

z 

o 

H 
P 

S 
2 

H 


> 

X 
< 


■-5 

34.3 
45.6 
55.8 
66.2 
84.7 

n   r^   O   ^o   t^ 

•*(--)    C\    ro    -- 
CO    CO    CN    CN    CN 

o 
o 

o    1 

ON 

o 

OO 

g 

§ 

o 

U-1 

o 

o 

-H    ^                 CS 

§ 

C)         ,^    w-i 

o 

CS    CNl          ^    CO 
(N 

o 
o 

^^          .^                         Wl    00 

^ 

OJ    ^    t^    v^ 

^        CO 

o 

OO 

CS    OO    Ch    O    OO 
CO    ^ 

o 

r^   ■*   \o   ^0   "^ 

— c    CO    -^    CO 

s 

Ov   r~-   OO   OO   OO 
rt   CO   ^0   -^f   <N 

o 

\0   O   ON   »J->   •<*< 
CO   r^   r^   w^   ^< 

o 

■*•    vr^    Tt<    OO    O 
vo    \0    'O    CS 

o 

r^   OO   u-i   Tf   CO 

OO   so   o< 

o 

OO    >v-l    vO    — 1 

OS   ^ 

O 

O    (N    CS 

CO    '^ 

O 

VO 

1) 

n 
O 

^  ^  >  g  1 

[46] 


TABLE  XVII.    SUMMARY  OF 

MEDIAN  SCORES  FOR  SILENT  READING 

Test 

Grades 

II 

HI 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

Monroe,  Rate 
Marion 

.73 

2.0 

2.26 

4.0 

116.3 

125.5 

102 

102 

6.1 

8.5 

104 

103 

129.8 

145.5 

102 

102 

8.7 
10.5 

108 

108 

123 

156.9 

161.6 

101 

101 

10.6 

11.5 

104 

104 

131 

152 

175.6 

171.3 

102 

101 

11.8 

12.8 

103 

101 

172 

179.1 

Grade  Norms 

188.6 

A.Q. 
Marion 

110 

Grade  Norms 

106 

Monroe,  Comprehension  . 
Marion 

13.7 

Grade  Norms 

14.0 

A.Q. 
Marion 

101 

Grade  Norms 

100 

Burgess 
Marion 

Grade  Norms 

Stanford 
Marion 

185 

Grade  Norms 

188 

reference  to  the  work  of  the  school.  It  appears  that  there  are  a 
number  of  pupils  in  each  of  the  grades  who  are  attempting  studies 
which  are  too  difficult  for  them,  and  also  that  there  are  a  number  of 
bright  pupils  who  are  not  being  given  educational  opportunities  com- 
mensurate with  their  capacities.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted 
that  in  the  grades  represented  there  has  been  a  somewhat  systematic 
attempt  to  divide  the  classes  into  sections  according  to  their  capacity 
to  do  the  work  of  the  school.  Thus,  the  range  of  intelligence  for  any 
group  is  probably  much  less  than  might  be  supposed  from  an  exam- 
ination of  Table  XVI.  This  plan  of  adjusting  the  school  to  the  pupil 
should  be  continued.  It  probably  should  be  supplemented  by  a  re- 
classification of  pupils;  some  should  be  allowed  extra  promotions, 
and  a  few  possibly  should  be  demoted  until  they  have  demonstrated 
their  ability  to  do  the  work  of  the  advanced  grade. 

Achievement  in  silent  reading.  The  achievement  in  silent  read- 
ing was  measured  by  means  of  the  Monroe  Standardized  Silent  Read- 
ing Test,  Revised,  in  Grades  IV  to  VIII  and  by  the  Burgess  Picture 
Supplement  Scale  in  Grades  II  and  III.    It  was  measured  also  in 


[47] 


Grades  VI  and  VIII  by  three  sub-tests  of  the  Stanford  Achievement 
Test.  The  median  point  scores  together  with  the  grade  norms  are 
given  in  Table  X\TI.  The  point  scores  represent  the  absolute 
achievement  of  the  pupils.  However,  the  quality  of  pupil  material 
at  Marion  has  been  shown  to  be  below  the  average  for  other  cities 
and  it  is  very  important  that  we  take  this  fact  into  consideration  in 
interpreting  measures  of  achievement.  The  Achievement  Quotient 
(A.Q.)  is  a  device  for  such  a  procedure.  It  is  obtained  by  dividing 
the  achievement  (expressed  in  terms  of  achievement  age)  by  the 
mental  age,  and  represents  the  ratio  of  a  pupil's  achievement  to  his 
capacity  to  achieve.  For  the  measures  of  achievement  measured  by 
Monroe's  Standardized  Silent  Reading  Test,  the  A.Q.'s  also  are 
given  in  Table  XVII.  A  comparison  of  these  with  the  grade  norms 
shows  that,  when  the  quality  of  the  pupil  material  is  considered,  the 
achievement  of  the  pupils  in  Marion,  as  measured  by  this  test,  is  up 
to  or  abov^e  the  norms.  The  median  scores  for  the  Burgess  Picture 
Supplement  Scale  are  conspicuously  below  the  grade  norms.  The 
test  proved  to  be  unsuitable  for  pupils  in  the  second  grade,  many  of 
whom  were  unable  to  do  a  single  exercise.  The  Pressey  Primary 
Classification  Test  (Table  XV)  shows  that  the  quality  of  the  pupil 
material  in  the  second  grade  was  up  to  standard.  It  therefore  appears 
that  the  pupils  in  the  second  and  third  grades  have  not  received 
sufficient  Instruction  upon  the  type  of  reading  measured  by  the  Bur- 
gess Picture  Supplement  Scale.  The  three  reading  tests  included 
in  the  Stanford  Achievement  Test  are  designed  to  measure  "power" 
in  silent  reading  rather  than  "skill."  In  this  respect  their  function  is 
different  from  the  Monroe  Standardized  Silent  Reading  Test, 
Revised.  Hence,  the  measures  of  achievement  obtained  by  means  of 
these  tests  are  not  comparable  with  those  obtained  by  other  tests,  A 
comparison  of  the  median  score  for  Grades  VI  and  VIII  with  the 
norm  indicates  that,  when  allowance  Is  made  for  the  quality  of  pupil 
material,  the  children  of  these  grades  are  on  the  average  up  to 
standard  in  the  type  of  silent  reading  ability  measured  by  the  Stan- 
ford Achievement  Test. 

Achievement  in  arithmetic.  Achievement  in  arithmetic  was 
measured  by  means  of  Monroe's  General  Survey  Scale  and  by  two 
of  the  sub-tests  of  the  Stanford  Achievement  Test.  The  median  point 
scores  and  the  grade  norms  for  these  two  tests  are  assembled  In 
Table  XVIII.    A  comparison  of  the  median  point  scores  with  the 

[48] 


TABLE  XVIII.   SUMMARY  OF  MEDIAN  SCORES  FOR  ARITHMETIC 


Grades 

Test 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

Monroe  General  Survey 

Marion 

13.6 

21.3 

87 

97 

18.9 

35.3 

88 

102 

138 

35.9 

46.0 

99 

102 

139 

174 

39.8 

56.0 

98 

102 

198 

Grade  Norms 

46.6 

A.  Q. 
Marion 

"62.6   I 

Grade  Norms 

"  87 

Stanford  Arithmetic 

Marion 

100 

207 

221 

Grade  Norms 

grade  norms  shows  that  in  general  the  pupils  in  Marion  are  dis- 
tinctly below  the  norms.  They  are  found  to  be  deficient  in  skill  in 
performing  the  operations  of  arithmetic  even  when  the  quality  of  the 
pupil  material  is  considered  by  use  of  the  A.Q.  When  the  instruction 
was  being  observed  an  apparent  lack  of  training  in  rapid  work  was 
noted  (see  page  38),  and  this  may  account  for  the  low  scores  made 
on  Monroe's  General  Survey  Scale  in  Arithmetic,  which  is  a  timed 
test.  The  median  scores  for  the  Stanford  Achievement  Test,  which 
measures  power  rather  than  skill,  are  below  the  grade  norms  by 
approximately  the  amounts  that  would  be  expected  from  the 
measurement  of  general  intelligence.  It,  therefore,  appears  that  the 
pupils  at  Marion  are  more  proficient  in  "power"  than  in  "skill"  but 
it  is  doubtful  if  the  existing  conditions  should  be  viewed  with 
complacency. 

A  comprehensive  survey  of  achievements  in  Grades  VI  and 
VIII.  The  Stanford  Achievement  Test  includes  three  sub-tests  in 
silent  reading,  two  in  arithmetic  and  one  each  in  the  following  sub- 
jects: nature  study,  history,  language,  and  spelling.  This  elaborate 
battery  of  tests  was  given  to  all  pupils  in  Grades  VI  and  VIII  in  order 
to  secure  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  achievements  of  the  pupils 
in  these  grades.  The  median  scores  together  with  the  grade  norms^ 
are  assembled  in  Table  XIX. 


^The  norms  are  taken  from  the  revised  list  issued  April,   1924.    These  are  for 
the  end  of  the  second  month  of  school. 

[49] 


TABLE  XIX.  MEDIAN  SCORES  ON  THE  STANFORD 
ACHIEVEMENT  TESTS 


Marion 

Grade 

VI 

Norms 

Marion 
Grade 
VIII 

Norms 

Test 

Grade 
V 

Grade 
VI 

Grade 
VII 

Grade 
VIII 

Reading 

131 
139 
33 
19 
18 
96 
43 

123 
138 
31 
12 
18 
88 
41 

152 
174 
43 
18 
23 
110 
52 

185 
207 
58 
44 
33 
157 
67 

172 
198 
54 
24 
29 
133 
61 

188 

Arithmetic 

221 

Nature  Study 

History 

63 
32 

Language 

Spelling 

Composite  Score. . .  . 

34 

152 

69 

Table  XIX  shows  that  in  the  sixth  grade  the  median  scores  for 
Marlon  are  distinctly  below  the  norms.  In  fact,  with  the  exception 
of  history,  the  median  scores  are  nearer  the  scores  for  the  fifth  grade 
than  for  the  sixth.  This  means  that,  as  measured  by  this  battery  of 
tests,  the  sixth-grade  pupils  in  Marion  are  over  one-half  year  behind 
those  in  other  schools. 

The  eighth  grade  showing  is  somewhat  more  favorable  to 
Marion.  In  history  and  spelling,  the  median  scores  are  above  the 
norms  for  the  grade.  With  the  exception  of  arithmetic  and  nature 
study,  the  median  scores  in  the  other  subjects  are  nearer  the  norms 
for  the  eighth  grade  than  for  the  seventh.  These  more  favorable 
results  are  probably  partially  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  a  large 
number  of  children  have  dropped  out  of  school  by  the  time  the  eighth 
grade  is  reached.  Table  XX  shows  that  the  enrollment  in  the  sixth 
grade  is  287  and  in  the  eighth  grade,  204. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  in  this  interpretation  of  Table 
XIX  no  reference  has  been  made  to  the  quality  of  pupil  material.  In 
Table  XIV  it  was  shown  that  in  the  sixth  grade  the  median  mental 
age  was  one  year  below  the  standard,  and  in  the  eighth  grade  it  was 
four  months  below.  When  these  facts  are  taken  into  consideration, 
it  is  evident  from  the  Stanford  Achievement  Test  that  the  pupils  in 
Marion  have  achieved  as  well  if  not  better  than  pupils  of  correspond- 
ing mental  ages  in  other  cities.  This  showing  is  somewhat  more 
favorable  than  that  indicated  by  the  Illinois  Examination. 


[50] 


TABLE  XX.   DISTRIBUTIONS  OF  THE  COMPOSITE  SCORES  ON  THE 
STANFORD  ACHIEVEMENT  TEST 


Grade 

0 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

Total 

Median 

VI 

1 

19 

79 

124 

47 

15 

2 

287 

43 

VIII 

3 

7 

34 

78 

48 

31 

3 

204 

67 

Overlapping  of  achievement.  The  distributions  of  the  composite 
scores  for  the  Stanford  Achievement  Test  are  given  in  Table  XX, 
These  distributions  show  much  overlapping  in  achievement.  There 
are  a  number  of  pupils  in  the  eighth  grade  whose  total  achievement 
as  measured  by  this  elaborate  battery  of  tests  is  below  that  of  the 
sixth  grade.  In  both  grades  there  are  a  number  of  pupils  whose 
achievements  are  so  far  below  the  norms  for  their  grade,  that  their 
work  cannot  be  considered  at  all  satisfactory.  This  overlapping  of 
achievement  may,  of  course,  be  explained  when  we  recall  that  a 
similar  overlapping  was  shown  in  the  quality  of  the  pupil  material. 

Summary.  The  quality  of  the  pupil  material  at  least  above  the 
third  grade,  as  shown  by  the  results  of  the  intelligence  tests,  is  in- 
ferior to  that  found  in  other  cities  when  pupils  in  the  corresponding 
grades  are  considered.  The  median  achievements  of  the  pupils  in 
silent  reading  are  distinctly  below  the  corresponding  grade  norms, 
but  when  the  quality  of  the  pupil  material  is  considered,  the  achieve- 
ment quotients  (A.Q.'s)  are  either  up  to  the  norm  or  slightly  above. 
In  arithmetic,  Marion  is  distinctly  below  standard  even  when  the 
A.  Q.'s  are  considered.  In  the  other  subjects  in  which  the  achieve- 
ments of  pupils  were  measured,  the  standing  of  Marion  is  less  satis- 
factory than  in  silent  reading  and  arithmetic.  It  seems  fair  to  say 
that  on  the  average  the  pupils  at  Marion  are  completing  the  eighth 
grade  about  one  year  behind  the  average  of  pupils  in  other  schools. 

If  we  take  as  our  concept  of  the  efficiency  of  the  school  system 
the  quotient  obtained  by  dividing  the  outcome  or  product  of  the 
system  by  the  investment,  it  appears  that  the  elementary  schools  of 
Marion  compare  favorably  in  efficiency  with  other  systems  in  which 
the  achievements  of  pupils  are  greater.  In  other  words,  the  citizens  of 
Marion  appear  to  be  securing  a  fair  return  for  their  educational  in- 
vestment.  However,  it  is  the  judgment  of  the  Survey  Staff  that  this 


[SI] 


condition  should  not  be  interpreted  to  mean  that  no  increase  in  the 
educational  investment  is  desirable.  On  the  contrary,  as  indicated  in 
other  chapters  of  this  report,  it  is  believed  that  Marion  might  profit- 
ably make  a  larger  educational  investment.  This  should  be  accom- 
panied by  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  achievements  of  the  pupils. 
It  is  likely  that  the  increase  would  be  even  larger  and  that  the  ratio 
of  the  output  of  the  public  schools  to  the  investment  would  be  greater 
than  it  is  at  the  present  time. 


[52] 


CHAPTER  VII 
RECOMMENDATIONS 

The  purpose  of  a  survey.  A  survey  of  a  school  system  fails  in 
its  fundamental  purpose  if  as  a  result  of  the  careful  consideration 
of  the  actual  conditions  of  the  school  system  there  cannot  develop 
certain  constructive  recommendations  which,  if  carried  out,  will 
result  in  improved  conditions  as  to  most  of  the  specific  items  in  which 
the  system  has  been  found  to  be  unsatisfactory.  An  even  stronger 
statement  can  be  made;  when  a  comparison  with  other  school  systems 
operating  under  approximately  similar  conditions  reveals  the  fact 
that  the  school  system  surveyed  ranks  well  below  the  average  or 
median  of  the  cities,  it  is  pertinent  to  inquire  whether  such  a  condi- 
tion is  justifiable.  It  is  true  that  occasionally  a  school  system  may,  on 
account  of  a  combination  of  financial  and  social  conditions  over  which 
the  board  of  education  has  and  can  have  no  control,  find  itself  well 
below  the  average  of  similar  school  systems.  It  is  also  conceivable 
that  school  systems  in  general  may  as  to  certain  points  be  spending  a 
relatively  too  large  amount.  The  contrary  assumption,  however,  is 
probably  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  the  correct  one.  Few  boards 
of  education  can  be  charged  with  over-emphasizing  education  and 
with  expending  an  unjustifiably  large  amount  of  money  on  their 
public  school  organizations.  Comparisons  as  to  the  educational 
efficiency  of  the  various  systems  are  even  more  significant  when  the 
question  of  modifications  of  school  conditions  is  under  consideration. 
When  a  school  system  is  found  to  be  well  below  the  average  in  the 
apparent  educational  efficiency  of  its  students,  the  demand  for  modi- 
fications which  will  improve  these  conditions  becomes  almost  imper- 
ative. The  ability,  however,  of  a  community  to  furnish  the  funds 
necessary  for  improved  conditions  does  vary  greatly  and  sometimes 
actually  prevents  reorganizations  as  fundamental  as  desirable. 

Increase  in  financial  support  for  public  schools.  On  the  whole 
it  is  not  unsafe  to  assume  that  few  communities  are  so  situated  that 
educational  improvement  is  financially  impossible.  Even  where  the 
legal  limit  of  taxation  has  been  reached  it  still  becomes  possible 
for  a  community  to  attempt  at  least  to  secure  conditions  making 
possible  improvement  through  legislative  enactment. 

[S3] 


Despite  these  general  statements  concerning  the  abihty  or  lack 
of  ability  of  the  community  to  improve  its  educational  conditions  it 
is  true  that  boards  of  education  not  infrequently  find  themselves  un- 
able to  cope  with  the  financial  demands  of  the  situation.  The  electors 
of  our  school  districts  still  retain  certain  fundamental  powers  with 
reference  to  the  control  of  the  schools.  If,  therefore,  a  community 
has  not  become  convinced  of  the  need  for  improvement,  boards  of 
education  may  be  unable  to  secure  the  funds  necessary  for  improve- 
ment. In  order  to  adopt  the  recommendations  contained  in  this 
chapter  it  will  undoubtedly  be  necessary  to  convince  the  voters  of 
Marion  that  more  liberal  financial  support  must  be  given  to  their 
school  system.  As  a  requisite  preliminary  to  the  actual  adoption  of 
the  recommendations  of  this  chapter  the  people  will  have  to  be  con- 
vinced that  the  board  of  education  should  be  empowered  to  levy,  if 
necessary,  the  maximum  amounts  permissible  under  the  present 
school  law,  both  for  maintenance  and  buildings.  Those  making  the 
survey  hope  that,  with  proper  publicity  given  in  the  community  to 
the  disadvantages  under  which  the  school  system  at  present  labors, 
authority  to  levy  a  maximum  tax  of  $4.00  on  each  $100.00  of  assessed 
valuation  and  authority  to  increase  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the 
district  sufficiently  to  relieve  the  congested  conditions  of  the  school 
system  may  be  assured  through  vote  of  the  people.  With  this  as  a 
primary  and  absolutely  essential  preliminary  recommendation  the 
more  specific  suggestions  follow. 

Educational  investment  commensurate  with  educational  needs. 
The  survey  points  out  clearly  the  fact  that  as  compared  with  the 
group  of  cities  of  similar  size  in  the  State  of  Illinois  the  number  of 
pupils  enrolled  in  the  elementary  schools  of  Marion  per  one  thousand 
of  population  is  greater  than  that  in  any  of  the  other  cities.  It  fol- 
lows, therefore,  that  Marion  must  accept  the  fact  that  she  must  have 
a  relatively  greater  financial  burden  to  assume  in  order  that  the 
children  whose  education  is  dependent  upon  her  educational  facilities 
shall  not  be  at  a  disadvantage  as  compared  with  other  cities.  In  spite 
of  this  unquestioned  heavy  burden  the  survey  points  out  that  when 
the  seventeen  cities  are  compared  as  to  total  current  expenditures 
Marion  spends  less  than  fourteen  of  the  seventeen,  and  that  when 
the  expenses  for  instruction  are  analyzed,  only  thirteen  of  sixteen  cities 
compared  spend  more  than  Marion.  The  survey  also  indicates  that 
as  to  general  expenses  for  maintenance  Marion  is  at  the  foot  of  the 

[54] 


list.  These  facts  show  without  any  chance  for  discussion  that  Marion 
should  have  available  a  larger  amount  of  money  for  the  actual  main- 
tenance of  her  schools.  Good  equipment  cannot  be  secured  without 
heavy  expenditure,  well-trained  teachers  cannot  be  engaged  without 
a  salary  schedule  which  is  comparable  to  that  of  other  cities.  Funda- 
mentally, therefore,  no  real  advantage  can  be  taken  of  the  specific 
facts  indicated  in  the  survey,  without  the  securing  by  the  community 
of  increased  funds  for  school  maintenance. 

An  analysis  of  the  tables  presented  as  to  total  expenditures  per 
pupil  again  shows  that  Marion  is  not  meeting  financially  the  needs  for 
the  education  of  its  children  as  well  as  the  average  city  of  the  state. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  when  the  population  of  the  city 
or  the  wealth  of  the  community,  as  indicated  by  the  assessed  valua- 
tion, is  used  as  an  index  of  valuation  Marion  is  meeting  these  needs 
somewhat  better  than  the  average.  This  fact,  however,  cannot  be 
accepted  as  justifying  the  continuance  of  present  conditions.  The 
outstanding  fact  is  that  the  amount  of  money  available  for  the 
education  of  the  individual  pupil  in  Marion  is  far  less  than  in  the 
average  city.  A  similar  study  of  all  of  the  tables  in  regard  to  the 
financial  condition  of  the  district  does  not  in  any  way  modify  the 
general  conclusion. 

Building  program.  The  chapter  which  has  to  do  with  the  build- 
ings and  equipment  points  out  that  while  there  are  many  buildings 
used  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States  no  better  or  even  worse  than 
the  buildings  in  Marlon,  on  the  whole  their  condition  Is  not  satis- 
factory. Many  of  the  minor  defects  can  easily  be  overcome  by  a  more 
liberal  expenditure  on  the  maintenance  and  upkeep  of  the  buildings. 
It  would  not  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  recommend  the  scrapping  of 
any  of  these  buildings.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  convince  a  com- 
munity that  the  abandonment  of  a  school  building  is  advisable  unless 
it  can  be  proved  that  it  is  unsafe  or  extremely  insanitary.  Neither 
statement  can  be  made  as  to  the  school  buildings  of  Marion.  While 
In  some  cases  the  light  Is  Insufficient  and  while  the  ventilation  Is  not 
up  to  accepted  standards,  yet  a  reasonable  expenditure  of  money  can 
make  all  of  the  buildings  conform  fairly  satisfactorily  to  such  stand- 
ards. The  statistics,  however,  do  show  distinctly  that  additional 
school  facilities  are  necessary.  Although  the  admittedly  low  efficiency 
of  instruction  is  not  by  any  means  entirely  due  to  the  overcrowded 
conditions,  an  improved  condition  as   to  seating  capacity  with  the 

[55] 


inevitable  better  opportunity  for  classification  of  pupils  would  result 
in  improvement  in  the  effectiveness  of  instruction. 

In  making  specific  recommendations  as  to  Increased  building 
facilities,  one  must  always  take  into  consideration  the  location  of  the 
present  buildings,  the  distances  which  children  have  to  travel  to 
reach  the  nearest  school  building,  the  present  centers  of  population 
and  the  probable  tendencies  as  to  the  future  growth  of  the  community. 
The  school  district  of  Marion  is  not  especially  large  and  even  at 
present  few  pupils  have  to  travel  an  unnecessarily  long  distance.  Two 
or  three  specific  methods  of  relieving  the  situation  deserve  consid- 
eration. One  of  these  would  be  the  abandonment  of  the  Washington 
School  and  the  erection  of  a  reasonably  large  elementary  school  in 
approximately  the  same  vicinity.  The  objection  to  this  solution  of 
the  problem  has  already  been  suggested  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 
It  would  be  difficult,  even  Impossible,  to  convince  a  community  that 
the  sacrifice  of  one  building  not  absolutely  unfit  for  use  is  justifiable. 

Another  method  of  procuring  relief  is  one  which  requires  con- 
sideration inasmuch  as  certain  neighborhoods  have  desired  the  erec- 
tion of  a  small  elementary  school  building  which  would  be  closer  to 
the  children  of  their  section  of  the  school  district  than  any  of  the 
existing  buildings.  This  argument  is  always  made  by  localities.  The 
board  of  education,  however,  needs  to  make  its  decisions  not  on  the 
basis  of  the  desires  of  certain  communities  but  in  harmony  with 
generally  accepted  educational  principles.  One  of  these  Is  that  small 
school  buildings  are  wasteful,  unnecessarily  expensive  in  administra- 
tion and  result  In  lessened  educational  efficiency.  There  are  hundreds 
of  school  systems  today  suff'ering  from  a  plethora  of  small  elementary 
school  buildings.  If  the  school  building  has  from  eighteen  to  twenty- 
four  rooms  there  can  always  be  better  organization,  better  classifica- 
tion of  pupils  and  more  efficient  administration  than  where  the  same 
number  of  rooms  Is  found  in  four  or  five  separate  buildings.  The 
board  of  education,  therefore,  would  err  in  accepting  the  desires  of 
that  section  of  the  community  for  a  small  elementary  building. 

The  third  method  of  relieving  the  congestion  would  be  through 
the  construction  of  an  addition  to  the  Logan  School.  While  this 
building  as  rated  on  the  Strayer-Engelhardt  Score  Card  is  by  no 
means  satisfactory,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  well  above  the  average 
school  building  of  the  country,  both  as  to  location  and  type  of  archi- 
tecture, and  could  have  an  addition  to  good  advantage.  The  char- 
acter of  the  addition  should  depend  somewhat  upon  the  proposed 

[56] 


type  of  educational  requirement.  If  what  is  commonly  known  as 
the  platoon  system  or  the  work-study  plan  be  adopted,  the  addition 
must  of  necessity  include  a  small  auditorium,  a  gymnasium,  and  the 
customary  laboratories  found  in  an  up-to-date  elementary  school. 
If  the  superintendent  and  the  board  of  education  determine  that  the 
platoon  system  is  not  to  be  utilized,  the  chief  argument  for  the 
inclusion  in  the  addition  of  an  auditorium  is  lessened.  Whatever 
the  system  finally  adopted  may  be,  it  is  the  judgment  of  the  Survey 
Staff  that  an  addition  of  this  sort  should  include  the  gymnasium  for 
proper  physical  instruction  and  the  customary  laboratories  and  shops 
of  a  modern  school  building. 

A  fourth  suggestion  while  not  coming  within  the  supposed  con- 
sideration of  the  Survey  Staff  should  not  be  overlooked.  There  is  a 
comparative  unanimity  of  belief  among  educators  that  the  so-called 
8-4  plan,  meaning  eight  years  of  elementary-school  and  four  years 
of  high-school  training,  is  not  destined  permanently  to  remain  the 
common  form  of  public-school  organization.  All  over  the  United 
States  these  traditional  school  systems  are  being  organized  on  the 
basis  of  a  six-year  elementary  school,  a  three-year  junior  high  school 
and  a  three-year  senior  high  school.  This  survey  is  not  the  place  to 
go  into  a  discussion  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  this  plan. 
The  fact  is  that  this  change  in  organization  has  been  going  on  for 
ten  or  twelve  years  and  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  this  trend  will 
continue.  The  present  conditions  in  Marion  prevent  the  adoption 
of  such  a  plan.  If,  however,  the  present  township  high  school  located 
in  Marion  were  a  part  of  the  local  school  district  the  relief  to  the 
school  congestion  would  be  of  a  very  decided  character.  In  that  event 
the  community  through  its  elected  officials  should  determine  whether 
it  would  not  be  better  to  relieve  the  elementary-school  congestion 
through  the  taking  over  by  the  high  school  of  the  work  of  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades.  Then,  the  high  school  could  reorganize  its  work 
on  the  basis  of  the  junior-senior  high-school  plan.  This,  of  course, 
cannot  be  done  under  the  legal  limitations  of  Illinois.  It  does  raise 
the  question,  however,  whether  it  would  not  be  wise  for  Marion  to 
join  with  other  cities  in  the  state  in  an  effort  to  change  the  school 
law  in  such  a  way  that  all  township  and  community  high  schools 
could  be  organized  to  accept,  when  desirable,  this  additional  educa- 
tional responsibility. 

If  it  is  determined  that  the  congestion  of  the  elementary-school 
system  of  Marion  must  be  taken  care  of  by  the  elementary-school 

[57] 


district,  it  is  the  judgment  of  the  Survey  Staff  that  the  third  plan 
is  the  best  and  that  competent  architects  should  be  employed  to  study 
the  situation  with  reference  to  the  possibility  of  an  addition  which 
would  enable  the  Logan  School  to  take  care  of  the  pupils  at  present 
in  attendance,  and,  in  addition,  of  the  pupils  of  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades  now  housed  in  the  Washington  School.  If  this  were 
done,  through  a  careful  redistricting  of  the  rest  of  the  city  all  of  the 
schools  could  be  relieved,  and  the  departmental  system  of  organiza- 
tion could  be  established  in  the  Logan  School,  including  the  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  grades.  This  would  make  possible  a  reorganiza- 
tion with  most  of  the  advantages  obtainable  in  the  ordinary  junior 
high  school. 

Salaries  and  teaching  staff.  The  chapter  which  has  to  do  with 
the  teaching  stafT  and  quality  of  instruction  brings  out  very  clearly 
the  fact  that  the  school  children  of  Marion  are  not  securing  as  efficient 
instruction  as  they  should.  While  part  of  this,  as  pointed  out  here- 
tofore in  this  chapter,  is  due  to  the  congested  conditions  and  the 
disadvantages  under  which  the  teachers  labor,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Survey  Staff  the  major  difficulty  is  due  to  the  lower  standards 
as  to  professional  training  which  are  in  force.  W^hen  it  is  realized 
that  an  ever  increasing  number  of  school  systems  fix,  as  the  mini- 
mum of  professional  and  academic  preparation  of  its  elementary 
teachers,  graduation  from  a  high  school,  with  at  least  two  years  of 
professional  training  such  as  is  given  in  the  teachers'  colleges  of 
Illinois,  the  insufficient  preparation  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
Marion  teachers  is  obvious.  The  Staff  recommends  that  the  board 
of  education,  having  secured  authority  for  levying  an  increased  tax- 
rate,  adopt  a  schedule  of  salaries  comparable  to  those  in  effect  in 
the  cities  of  the  state  where  two  years  of  professional  training  in 
addition  to  graduation  from  high  school  are  required,  and  that  in 
the  selection  of  new  teachers  from  year  to  year  only  teachers  who 
meet  this  minimum  standard  be  employed.  It  would  obviously  be 
unjust  to  penalize  teachers  now  in  the  employ  of  the  district  for 
their  failure  to  comply  with  these  minimum  qualifications.  It  would, 
however,  be  perfectly  proper  for  the  board  of  education  to  insist 
that  within  a  reasonable  time  the  professional  training  of  these  teach- 
ers be  increased  to  the  point  that  the  minimum  standards  are  met. 
Some  districts,  anxious  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  teachers  in 
service,  encourage  attendance  at  summer  schools  through  giving  a 
slight  bonus — fifty  dollars,  for  instance — to  teachers  who  have  accom- 

[58] 


pllshed  a  minimum  amount  of  work  in  a  summer  school  of  accepted 
standards.  Another  way,  of  course,  is  to  insist,  in  the  case  of  teachers 
where  it  is  practicable,  that  leave  of  absence  be  secured  to  enable 
the  teacher  to  obtain  the  necessary  training.  It  is  fundamentally 
clear  that  through  some  method  or  other  the  teaching  corps  of 
Marion  should  reach  a  considerably  higher  level  of  efficiency  than 
exists  at  the  present  time.  A  study  of  the  salaries  paid  the  teachers 
of  Marion  as  compared  with  those  paid  in  the  other  cities  listed  in 
the  tables  shows  quite  clearly  the  need  for  a  more  liberal  teachers' 
salary  schedule  than  at  present  obtains,  but  with  the  increased 
salaries  there  should  be  attached  higher  standards  of  professional 
training  and  accomplishment. 

Course  of  study.  The  chapter  dealing  with  the  course  of  study 
brings  out  quite  clearly  the  desirability  of  a  systematic  investigation, 
conducted  under  the  supervision  and  direction  of  the  city  superin- 
tendent, of  the  curriculum.  Experience  has  shown  that  there  is  no 
better  method  for  securing  real  increase  in  efficiency  of  teachers  in 
service,  save  of  course  actual  attendance  at  summer  schools  or 
teachers'  colleges,  than  through  a  systematic  effort  to  reorganize 
and  prepare  according  to  the  modern  principles  of  education  the 
curriculum  in  use  in  the  school  system.  There  is  a  sufficient  body 
of  literature  available  to  make  it  possible  for  genuinely  efficient 
service  to  be  rendered  in  the  direction  of  improved  curriculum  con- 
struction. Proper  consideration  given  by  the  teachers  to  the  prob- 
lems of  the  curriculum  with  due  regard  to  the  preparation  and 
maturity  of  the  pupil  of  each  grade  undoubtedly  results  in  an  atti- 
tude which  is  conducive  to  more  effective  teaching. 

Summary.  The  recommendations  of  those  making  this  survey 
are  summarized  as  follows: 

1.  The  securing,  from  the  electorate,  of  the  power  to  levy  a  tax 
of  three  mills  for  maintenance,  and  one  mill  for  building. 

2.  The  securing,  from  the  electorate,  of  authority  to  issue  bonds 
sufficient  to  construct  an  addition  to  the  Logan  School. 

3.  This  addition  should  be  in  conformity  with  modern  ideas  as 
to  efficient  elementary  school  buildings,  and  should  include,  at  least, 
in  addition  to  a  sufficient  number  of  recitation  rooms,  a  gymnasium; 
laboratories  for  cooking,  general  science  and  geography;  manual 
training  shops;  and  a  library. 

[59] 


4.  A  revision  of  the  salary  schedule  including  the  adoption  of 
a  minimum  requirement  that  all  new  teachers  employed  in  the  Marlon 
elementary  schools  shall  be  graduates  of  a  high  school  and  shall  have 
had  at  least  two  years  of  professional  training  after  graduation. 

5.  A  plan  by  which  teachers  at  present  employed  in  the  Marlon 
schools  shall  within  a  reasonable  period  be  able  to  meet  the  minimum 
qualifications  for  new  teachers. 

6.  A  systematic  plan  through  which  the  teachers  now  in  service 
may  have  an  opportunity  to  make  a  thorough  study  of  the  problems 
of  the  elementary-school  curriculum  out  of  which  there  shall  develop 
a  definite  course  of  study  covering  the  work  from  the  first  to  the 
eighth  grade. 


[60] 


EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH  BULLETIN  NO.  22 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 


CONSERVATION  OF  INTELLIGENCE 
IN  ILLINOIS  HIGH  SCHOOLS 


By 


Charles  W.  Odell 

Associate,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 


Price  30  cents 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA 

1925 


^ 


UNlVEnSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112070071524 


